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in  2017  with  funding  from 
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GREEK  IMMIGRATION 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 


“L-  ^ 


A FUTURE  AMERICAN 


GREEK  IMMIGRATI 

TO 


THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 


HENRY  PRATT  FAIRCHILD 


NEW  HAVEN:  YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
LONDON:  HENRY  FROWDE 
OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


Copyright,  1911, 

BY 

Yale  University  Press 


First  printed  February,  1911,  1000  copies 


TO  MY  WIFE 


PREFACE 


This  work  was  prepared  as  a part  of  the  requirements 
for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  connection 
with  the  Department  of  Anthropology  in  Yale  University. 
The  effort  was  made  to  secure  for  it  the  merit  which 
attaches  to  a scientific  production,  and  in  so  far  as  this 
effort  has  been  successful  it  is  in  large  measure  due  to  the 
scholarly  atmosphere  in  which  the  work  was  done.  It  was 
also  carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the  Carnegie  Institu- 
tion of  Washington.  To  it  I am  deeply  indebted  for 
financial  assistance,  without  which  the  work  must  have 
been  much  more  limited  in  scope. 

Inasmuch  as  the  book  is  based  almost  wholly  on  per- 
sonal investigation,  I am  aware  that  it  is  open  to  the 
inaccuracies  which  beset  that  kind  of  a study.  I have 
selected  my  sources  of  information  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  have  taken  pains  to  avoid  making  any  positive  state- 
ments unless  I was  myself  convinced  of  the  truth  of  them ; 
yet  there  are  undoubtedly  errors  due  to  faulty  judgment. 
My  hope  is  that  on  the  whole  my  opinions  and  conclusions 
are  not  too  widely  at  variance  with  those  which  a complete 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts  would  justify.  The  same  causes 
have  necessitated  the  frequent  use  of  the  first  personal 
pronoun,  which  is  undesirable  but  unavoidable. 

In  some  cases  I have  felt  compelled  to  suppress  the  exact 
identity  of  my  informants,  as  their  position  and  the  nature 
of  the  information  furnished  by  them  have  been  such  as  to 
lead  them  to  request  expressly  that  their  names  should  not 
be  mentioned. 


IX 


PREFACE 


The  meagerness  of  the  bibliography  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  practically  nothing  has  been  written  directly  on  the 
subject,  outside  of  a few  magazine  articles,  and  it  can 
serve  for  little  else  than  incidental  reference. 

In  an  undertaking  of  this  kind,  I have  put  myself  under 
obligation  to  a very  large  number  of  people.  Men  and 
women  from  every  station  of  life,  both  Americans  and 
Greeks,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  have  put  their  time 
and  their  information  freely  at  my  disposal.  To  try  to 
acknowledge  even  a few  of  these  debts  individually  is  out 
of  the  question.  Let  me  briefly,  but  sincerely,  express  my 
deep  gratitude  to  every  one  of  the  many  by  whose  kind 
consideration  the  prosecution  of  the  work  was  made 
possible. 

I cannot  forbear,  however,  to  mention  the  names  of  a 
small  number  whose  connection  with  the  work  has  been 
such  as  to  render  my  obligation  to  them  quite  distinct. 
Foi’emost  among  these  is  Professor  Albert  G.  Keller,  under 
whose  personal  guidance  the  work  was  carried  on.  In 
ways  too  numerous  to  mention,  he  has  shown  his  interest  in 
the  undertaking,  and  his  advice  and  inspiration  have  been 
invaluable.  To  Professor  Walter  F.  Willcox,  of  the 
Carnegie  Institution,  I also  feel  a personal  obligation  for 
kindly  interest,  advice  and  encouragement.  Three  friends 
in  Greece  to  whom  I feel  sincerely  grateful  for  valuable 
assistance,  and  many  kindnesses,  are  Consul-General 
George  W.  Horton  in  Athens  (now  of  Saloniki),  and 
Consul  Edward  Nathan  (now  of  Mersine),  and  Vice- 
Consul  H.  J.  Woodley  in  Patras. 

New  Haven,  January,  1911. 


CONTENTS 


Part  I. 


The  Conditions^  Causes  and  Sources  of  Emigration. 


Chapter 

I. 

The  Physical  Environment 

3 

Chapter 

II. 

National  Character  ...... 

12 

Chapter 

III. 

Religion  and  Language  .... 

42 

Chapter 

IV. 

The  Direct  Causes  of  Emigration 

58 

Chapter 

V. 

The  Sources  and  Means  of  Emigration 

83 

Part  II. 

The 

Greeks  in  the  United  States. 

Chapter 

VI. 

Statistical  Review 

109 

Chapter 

VII. 

Greek  Colonies  in  the  United  States 

119 

Chapter 

VIII. 

Economic  Conditions 

165 

Chapter 

IX. 

Social  Conditions 

191 

Part  III. 

Effects  of  Immigration. 

Chapter 

X. 

Effects  on  the  Immigrants 

215 

Chapter 

XI. 

Effects  on  Greece 

220 

Chapter 

XII. 

Effects  on  the  United  States  . 

236 

XI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

A Future  American Frontispiece. 

Corfu Opposite  page  6 

Typical  Dwellings 36 

Monk  and  Acolyte 48 

Peasant  Plowing  with  Wooden  Plow 6l 

Plant  of  the  Societe  Hellenique  de  Vins  et  Spiritueux, 

Eleusis 67 

Harbor  of  Patras  by  Night 81 

Tsipiana 90 

A Scene  on  Board  Ship 102 

Immigrants  on  Board 113 

Greek  Orthodox  Church,  Lowell 141 

Bootblack  Shop  and  Two  of  the  Boys,  New  Haven  . . 179 

Immigrants  Embarking  for  the  United  States  at  Patras  210 

Women  Washing  at  the  Fountain,  Tsipiana  . . . . 218 

Public  Square,  Tripolis 229 

Peasant  Types,  Megalopolis 243 


xiii 


INTRODUCTION 


Five  centuries  ago  there  lay  before  the  European  races 
a third  of  the  entire  land  surface  of  the  world,  newly 
opened.  But  few  obstacles,  and  those  easily  superable, 
opposed  the  occupation  of  the  temperate  portions  of  this 
new  earth.  Thus  the  whole  equation  between  men  and  land 
underwent  a momentous  alteration,  and  one  which  can 
scarcely  be  repeated  on  this  planet.  The  conjuncture,  as 
Professor  Sumner  was  wont  to  say,  now  came  to  be  in 
favor  of  men.  Under  the  freer  conditions  of  life  there 
resulted,  of  necessity,  a thorough  modification  of  the  mode 
of  society — of  human  customs,  institutions,  and  philoso- 
phies. Before  the  race,  now  exempt  from  checks  inherent 
in  narrower  and  more  exacting  environmental  conditions, 
and  loosed  from  the  social  system  developed  under  neces- 
sity of  adaptation  to  them,  there  lay  the  possibility  of  an 
indefinite  growth  and  expansion.  In  a very  real  sense 
humanity  had  a new  chance ; the  most  advanced  and 
adaptable  of  human  races  could  pick  and  choose  from  out 
of  its  past,  and,  so  far  as  it  was  conscious  of  its  situation, 
it  could  strive  to  make  of  its  future  something  more 
rational,  something  at  least  partially  disentangled  from, 
world-old  drags  upon  progress. 

Of  the  double  continent  then  thrown  open,  the  most  con- 
siderable portion,  suitable  for  permanent  occupation,  was 
the  zone  now  included  within  the  boundai'ies  of  our  own 
country.  Here  it  was  that  the  men  were  wanted ; there 
could  not  be  too  many  of  them.  Quality  was  somewhat 
looked  to,  it  is  true,  but  quantity  was  the  great  desidera- 


XV 


INTRODUCTION 


turn.  As  time  went  on,  and  the  nation  grew  and  yet 
managed  to  keep  its  unity  and  to  reduce  the  incoming 
aliens  to  its  type,  there  arose  a deep-seated  conviction  as 
to  the  incomparable  and  Inexhaustible  assimilating  power 
of  the  nation.  The  crude  ores  dumped  into  the  crucible 
might  be  what  they  might — the  fusion  would  be  thorough, 
the  mold  compellingly  formative,  the  result  sound  and 
dependable. 

But  there  are  signs  in  the  present  days  that  this  con- 
viction is  being  shaken.  As  the  country  is  filling  up  and 
as  conditions  are  coming  not  so  distantly  to  resemble  those 
of  older  lands,  the  tendency  is  to  think  less  of  quantity  and 
more  of  quality  than  heretofore.  The  strain  to  which  the 
national  power  of  assimilation  is  being  subjected  causes 
many  to  harbor  concern  as  to  the  outcome.  Some  would 
limit  immigration  irrespective  even  of  its  quality ; few  wish 
to  see  it  as  unrestricted  as  it  used  to  be;  and  any  citizen 
of  sense  realizes  that  we  must  know  the  facts  about  it. 
Any  student  of  human  society  can  see  that  as  the  popula- 
tion grows  and  presses  ever  more  insistently  upon  the  land, 
the  issues  surrounding  the  contact  of  races  are  bound  to  be 
vital  and  perhaps  determinative  of  the  destiny  of  the 
nation. 

The  reader  of  this  book  will  learn  much  about  one  of 
the  new  and  characteristic  groups  of  our  fellow  citizens. 
Their  number  is  small,  it  is  true,  but  the  impression  they 
yield  is  the  more  clear  and  definite.  It  is  often  impossible 
to  analyze  the  large  and  complex  cases  with  much  success, 
until  one  has  learned  to  know  and  to  estimate  the  value  of 
factors  which  remain  somewhat  isolated  in  the  more  re- 
stricted fields  of  observation.  Further,  it  is  peculiarly 
needful  in  investigation  of  immigration  that  the  observer 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION 


shall  not  be  hampered  in  any  avoidable  way  in  getting  at 
the  circumstances  and  motives  of  the  immigrant ; he  should 
know  the  language,  and  the  disposition,  customs,  and 
habitudes  of  the  people  he  wishes  to  study;  and  he  should 
be  able  through  sympathy  to  gain  insight.  As  respects 
these  considerations  the  following  study  has  been  carried 
out  under  the  most  favorable  of  auspices. 

A.  G.  Kellee. 

New  Haven,  January  21,  1911. 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 


PART  I 


THE  CONDITIONS,  CAUSES  AND  SOURCES  OF 
EMIGRATION 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION  TO  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Physical  Environment 

TAOR  the  study  of  any  group  of  people  the  fundamental 
basis  is  a survey  of  the  nature  of  the  country  in 
which  they  are  placed.  The  influence  of  physical  environ- 
ment on  the  history  and  character  of  the  races  of  men  is 
a matter  which  is  just  beginning  to  be  adequately  com- 
prehended. The  general  idea  is  not  new.  It  has  long  been 
vaguely  understood  that  an  elevated  habitat  tends  to  breed 
a hardy  and  independent  race,  that  extreme  heat  and 
luxuriance  of  natural  production  are  conducive  to  enerva- 
tion and  indolence,  that  the  temperate  zone  is  best  fitted 
to  develop  a progressive  people.  But  the  influence  of 
man’s  natural  surroundings  is  much  more  definite,  funda- 
mental and  far-reaching  than  this.  Trade  routes,  political 
organizations  and  affiliations,  the  development  of  industry 
and  agriculture,  even  national  character  and  religion  are 
intimately  dependent  on  the  physical  surroundings  in 
which  a race  is  placed.  In  no  phase  of  human  activity  is 
this  more  true  than  in  the  matter  of  the  movement  of 
peoples — ^in  short,  migration.  Whether  people  shall  move 
or  not,  where  they  shall  go,  what  shall  be  their  relation 
with  the  country  of  departure,  are  matters  which  depend 


3 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


very  largely  on  the  topography  of  the  region  in  which 
they  find  themselves  placed. 

Accordingly,  in  undertaking  a study  of  modern  Greek 
emigration  it  is  essential  first  of  all  to  get  a concise  yet 
comprehensive  view  of  the  natural  character  of  the  region 
in  which  this  remarkable  race  has  developed.  When  the 
word  “Greece”  is  heard,  it  is  natural  first  of  all  to  think 
of  the  small  and  broken  peninsula,  stretching  down  from 
eastern  Europe  into  the  Mediterranean,  which  bears  that 
name.  This  is  indeed  Greece  proper,  the  cradle  of  the 
Hellenic  race,  the  center  of  the  ancient  life  and  culture 
which  have  commanded  the  admiration  of  all  civilized 
peoples  for  so  many  centuries.  Yet  a second  consideration 
will  reveal,  perhaps  to  a surprising  degree,  how  large  and 
important  a part  of  the  truest  Greek  life  was  developed 
outside  the  bounds  of  the  peninsula.  Many  of  the  most 
typical  representatives  of  the  ancient  Greek  race,  such  as 
Herodotus,  Archimedes  and  Aristotle,  were  born  and  lived 
outside  of  the  limits  of  this  district.  What  is  perhaps  the 
finest  type  of  classical  architecture,  the  Ionic,  took  its 
name  from  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Ancient  Greece, 
broadly  but  truly  speaking,  included  not  only  the  peninsula 
but  the  Ionian  Islands,  the  Archipelago,  Crete,  Cyprus, 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus  and 
the  Black  Sea,  and  even  the  borders  of  Italy  and  northern 
Africa.  And  so  at  the  present  time,  if  we  wish  to  under- 
stand the  modern  Greek  people,  or,  as  in  the  present 
instance,  to  get  at  the  sources  of  Greek  emigration,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  more  than  the  European  mainland, 
more  even  than  the  territory  included  in  the  Greek  king- 
dom. A large  proportion  of  the  modern  race,  represent- 
ing a very  important  part  of  Greek  life,  is  situated  in 


4 


THE  PHYSICAL  ENVIRONMENT 


other  Mediterranean  countries,  especially  in  lands  ruled 
over  by  the  Turkish  Sultan.  Smyrna  contains  about  the 
same  number  of  Greeks  as  Athens,  and  Constantinople 
many  more,  probably  more  than  Athens  and  the  PirjEus 
together.  But  today,  as  of  old,  the  peninsula  is  the  heart 
of  Greek  life  and  the  center  of  the  phenomena  of  emigra- 
tion in  which  we  are  particularly  interested.  Let  us  glance 
hurriedly  at  the  main  features  of  this  district,  the  general 
nature  of  which  is  so  familiar  that  the  briefest  review  will 
suffice  to  fix  them  in  our  minds. 

Greece  proper  is  a very  mountainous  and  deeply 
indented  peninsula,  almost  severed  by  the  Gulf  of  Corinth 
and  the  Gulf  of  JEgina,  the  two  parts  being  joined  by  the 
narrow  Isthmus  of  Corinth.  In  spite  of  the  precipitous 
nature  of  much  of  the  coast  there  are  a number  of  excellent 
harbors.  The  most  striking  feature  of  the  topography, 
next  to  the  broken  coast  line,  is  the  way  in  which  the 
mountains  break  it  up  into  a number  of  small  and  more 
or  less  isolated  districts.  The  most  important  of  these 
are  the  following.  Beginning  with  the  Macedonian  border, 
there  is  the  large  plain  of  Thessaly,  bounded  by  Mount 
Pindos  and  Mount  Othrys.  To  the  west  is  the  large  and 
very  mountainous  district  of  Epiros,  with  the  small  regions 
of  Acharnania  and  ^tolia  to  the  south.  Moving  toward 
the  Isthmus,  there  is  Boeotia  and  Attica,  separated  from 
each  other  by  Mounts  Cithaeron  and  Parnes.  Crossing 
into  the  Peloponnesus,  there  is  the  broken  region  of  Achaia 
on  the  north,  with  the  plain  of  Elis  to  the  southwest  and 
Argolis  to  the  southeast.  The  central  district  is  Arcadia, 
and  the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula  is  made  up  of 
Laconia  and  Messenia,  separated  by  the  towering  Tay- 
getos  range.  These  are  only  the  main  divisions.  There 


5 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


are  scores  of  smaller  ones,  all  more  or  less  separated  from 
each  other.  The  rest  of  the  modern  Greek  world  is  made 
up  for  the  most  part  of  a large  number  of  islands,  and 
the  coastal  regions  of  Egypt,  and  European  and  Asiatic 
Turkey. 

Generally  speaking,  then,  the  home  of  the  Greek  race 
consists  of  a host  of  small  habitation-districts,  separated 
from  each  other  by  more  or  less  impassable  barriers  of  sea 
or  land.  Some  of  these  are  coastal  regions  along  the 
eastern  waters  of  the  Mediterranean ; some  are  islands ; 
some  are  fertile  districts  on  the  European  mainland,  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  great  chains  of  precipitous 
mountains.  This  is  particularly  true  in  the  Peloponnesus. 
This  half  of  the  peninsula  is  composed  of  a series  of  tiny, 
fertile  valleys  or  plains,  marked  off  from  each  other  by 
enormous  walls  of  barren  and  rocky  mountains,  almost  or 
wholly  impassable,  except  for  a few  narrow  passes,  in 
themselves  sufficiently  difficult.  Perhaps  nothing  impresses 
the  traveler  through  the  Morea  more  than  the  roughness 
of  the  country  and  the  difficulty  of  access  from  one  region 
to  another.  The  lines  of  railroad  are  one  long  succession 
of  windings  and  twistings,  of  ascents  and  descents,  with 
only  occasional  stretches  of  comparatively  level  track  as 
one  or  another  of  the  plains  is  reached.  From  Tripolis  to 
Bilali  (the  branch  station  for  Megalopolis)  is  41.2  kilo- 
meters, or  25.6  miles,  mostly  down  grade.  The  schedule 
time  for  passenger  trains  is  one  hour  and  fifty  minutes. 
The  little  districts  lying  between  these  mighty  barriers  are 
often  very  alluring  and  of  great  fertility,  but  the  great 
areas  of  the  kingdom  which  are  comprised  in  the  barriers 
themselves  are  barren  and  inhospitable  in  the  extreme. 

The  effects  of  this  peculiar  environment  on  the  Greek 


6 


CORFU  (VERY  FEW  HAVE  COME  TO  AMERICA  FROM  THIS  BEAUTIFUL  ISLAND) 


THE  PHYSICAL  ENVIRONMENT 


race,  which  are  of  especial  importance  in  the  present  inves- 
tigation, are  in  the  main  twofold — the  effect  on  the  occu- 
pations of  the  people,  and  the  effect  on  the  national  char- 
acter. First,  as  regards  occupations.  Greece  is  of 
necessity  primarily  an  agricultural  country.  There  are 
a few  mineral  resources  (see  page  67),  but  they  have  never 
attained  any  great  importance.  Mining  and  manu- 
factures have  never  enjoyed  a large  development.  The 
difficulties  of  communication,  above  noted,  have  had  the 
effect  of  limiting  the  market,  and  this,  as  Adam  Smith 
pointed  out,*  is  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  division 
of  labor  and  hence  to  the  development  of  industry. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  in  the  sheltered  valleys  and 
on  the  fertile  uplands  agricultural  pursuits  find  a suitable 
field,  and  the  vine,  the  olive  tree,  and  the  wheat  plant  have 
always  flourished,  furnishing  an  easy  subsistence  for  a not 
too  dense  population.  On  the  mountain  slopes  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats  browse,  furnishing  materials  for  clothing 
as  well  as  the  comparative  luxuries  of  milk,  butter  and 
cheese,  and  occasionally  meat.  It  is  comparatively  easy 
to  secure  the  bare  necessities  of  life  in  Greece.  But  a 
strictly  agricultural  country  is  always  threatened  with 
over-population.  By  the  law  of  Malthus,  unless  there  is 
a steady  improvement  in  the  arts  of  living  the  population 
will  always  be  pressing  on  the  limits  of  subsistence.  And 
in  Greece,  in  the  absence  of  industry,  there  has  not  been 
a sufficient  improvement  in  the  arts  of  agriculture  to 
provide  for  the  natural  increase  of  the  population.  By 
the  natural  configuration  of  the  country  each  small 
habitation-district  is  closely  confined  within  itself.  Any 
gradual  extension  of  the  territorial  limits  by  a process  of 

* Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.,  Chapter  3. 


7 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


slow  individual  migration  by  short  stages  is  absolutely 
prohibited.  But  the  Greeks  are  a prolific  race  and  there 
has  consequently  always  been  a surplus  population,  which 
has  been  forced  to  find  an  outlet  for  its  activities  in  some 
new  region  apart  from  its  native  soil.  On  account  of  the 
very  broken  coast  fine  of  the  peninsula,  a great  proportion 
of  the  habitation-districts  of  the  mainland,  as  well  as  of 
the  islands,  border  on  the  sea.  The  result  is  that  this 
surplus  population  has  very  largely  taken  to  navigation 
and  commercial  pursuits,  so  that  from  time  immemorial 
the  Greeks  have  been  a maritime  people,  the  traders  and 
carriers  of  the  Levant. 

But  many  of  the  habitation-districts  are  in  the  interior 
and  do  not  touch  the  sea,  and  from  these  too  the  surplus 
inhabitants  have  been  forced  to  wander  from  their  home 
fields,  and  either  follow  their  low-country  brothers  out  on 
the  wide  seas,  or  find  a home  on  the  shores  of  some  distant 
land.  Consequently  in  ancient  times  we  find  colonies  set- 
ting out  from  Greece  for  widely  scattered  regions,  and  like- 
wise more  recently,  individually  and  in  groups,  Greeks 
have  established  themselves  in  sections  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean lands,  and  in  many  more  distant  parts  of  the  world’s 
surface. 

But  though  coming  from  agricultural  regions  and  pur- 
suits, the  Greek  does  not  usually  follow  that  fine  of  occupa- 
tion in  his  adopted  home.  Especially  in  the  Levant,  the 
Greek  is  much  superior  in  energy  and  business  ability  to 
the  native  peoples  among  whom  he  finds  himself  placed,  and 
he  has  consequently  found  it  to  his  advantage  to  devote 
himself  to  commercial  rather  than  agricultural  activities, 
with  the  result  that  he  succeeds  in  building  up  a much 
greater  fortune  in  his  new  home  than  he  could  ever  have 


8 


THE  PHYSICAL  ENVIRONMENT 

hoped  to  acquire  in  the  fatherland.  Today,  the  most 
prosperous  business  men  of  Alexandria,  Cairo,  Smyrna  and 
Constantinople  are  largely  Greeks,  and  even  as  far  as 
Persia  they  are  found  in  control  of  all  important  business. 
More  isolated  cases  of  successful  Greek  merchants  are  to  be 
found  in  cities  almost  all  over  the  world.  Stated  suc- 
cinctly, Greece  has  always  been  a splendid  place  to  go 
away  from  to  make  a fortune,  and  the  very  topographical 
peculiarities  which  have  forced  the  Greeks  to  wander,  have 
produced  a race  admirably  fitted  to  secure  the  desired  end 
in  new  fields.  Emigration  from  Greece  is  no  new  thing. 
But  in  times  past  the  Greek  emigrant  always  looked 
forward  to  eventual  return,  if  possible,  to  his  home  land, 
where  he  might  settle  down  in  peace  and  quietude  and 
spend  the  declining  years  of  his  life  in  the  restful  enjoy- 
ment of  his  acquired  wealth.  The  ancient  Greek  colony 
was  an  airoiKia  and  the  colonist  was  an  airoiKo^ — one  who  was 
away  from  home.*  The  tie  with  the  mother  city  was  a 
very  close  one  and  the  highest  aim  of  the  ancient  colony 
was  to  glorify  and  enrich  the  community  from  which  it 
came.  If  in  many  cases  the  offspring  outgrew  and  some- 
times rebelled  against  the  parent,  it  was  a later  and  some- 
what exceptional  development.  The  attitude  of  the  Greek 
emigrant  toward  his  home  land  has  remained  very  similar 
up  to  very  recent  times.  How  much  of  change  the  last 
few  years  have  witnessed  will  appear  later. 

The  second  effect  of  the  physical  environment  which  is 
of  special  importance  in  the  present  discussion  is  the  effect 
on  the  national  character  of  the  Greeks.  It  would  be 
overstraining  a good  point  to  claim  that  all  the  intri- 
cacies of  the  Hellenic  character  are  due  to  the  natural 
* Keller,  Colonization,  p.  42. 

9 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


surrounding.  There  are  doubtless  many  other  influences 
in  the  racial  composition  of  the  Greeks  themselves  and  in 
their  contact  with  other  races  which  have  tended  to  mold 
their  character.  Yet  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  country  has  had  a profound  influence  in 
shaping  the  moral  and  intellectual  features  of  the  people. 
The  same  barriers  which  prevented  or  impeded  commercial 
and  industrial  development,  also  forbade  social  communi- 
cation and  interrelation  between  the  different  groups  of 
the  population.  Those  rugged  mountain  chains  and 
stretches  of  stormy  sea  made  impossible  any  free  and  con- 
tinuous play  of  social  forces  and  interchange  of  social 
ideals.  Just  as  there  could  be  no  gradual  and  impercep- 
tible mingling  of  the  blood  of  the  various  groups,  so 
there  could  be  no  common  participation  in  friendly  inter- 
course. Consequently,  instead  of  an  amalgamated  Greek 
race  spread  over  the  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  there 
was  a congeries  of  small  kin-groups,  having  each  its  inde- 
pendent existence,  meeting  oftener  for  war  than  for  other 
more  peaceful  intercourse.  This  of  necessity  fostered 
differences,  jealousies,  and  misunderstandings.  What 
other  forces  tending  in  the  same  direction  there  may  have 
been  in  the  misty  ancestry  of  the  race,  it  is  impossible  to 
say.  But  however  caused,  today,  as  well  as  in  ancient 
times,  one  of  the  most  pronounced  features  of  the  Greek 
character  is  a factiousness,  a sectionalism,  a clannishness, 
an  inability  to  take  the  point  of  view  of  one’s  neighbor, 
which  has  extended  beyond  the  tribal  limits  to  the  domain 
of  personal  relations  and  individual  character,  maldng  it 
very  difficult  for  Greeks  to  unite  in  any  common  enter- 
prise. 

The  traveler  whose  boyhood  study  of  ancient  Greek 


10 


THE  PHYSICAL  ENVIRONMENT 


history  has  impressed  him  with  the  importance  of  the 
frequent  wars  between  Lacedemonians,  Spartans,  Arca- 
dians, et  al.,  is  astonished  to  learn  by  personal  Ausitation 
how  limited  is  the  actual  territory  of  the  several  diminutive 
“kingdoms”  with  the  names  of  which  he  is  so  familiar. 
When  one  reflects  that  the  whole  lot  of  them  are  included 
in  a territory  of  about  the  same  area  as  the  state  of  West 
Virginia,  he  realizes  that  no  one  of  them  can  be  very  large. 

The  tribal  wars  are  a thing  of  the  past ; roads,  railroads, 
and  steamboats  are  beginning  to  make  communication 
between  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  much  easier,  but 
the  old  factionalism  remains  a prominent  feature  of  the 
Greek  character,  and  has  an  intimate  bearing  on  the 
subject  of  the  present  investigation.  The  foregoing 
facts,  not  at  all  unfamiliar  as  they  are,  and  thus  so  briefly 
stated,  are  yet  of  fundamental  importance  to  a thorough 
understanding  of  Greek  emigration,  and  serve  as  a basis 
for  the  present  study.  Various  illustrations  and  applica- 
tions will  develop  from  time  to  time. 


11 


CHAPTER  II 


National  Character 

T N trying  to  form  an  estimate  of  modern  Greek  life  and 
character  from  the  writings  of  recent  travelers  one  is 
very  quickly  impressed  with  the  discouraging  lack  of 
unanimity  in  the  opinions  expressed  by  different  observers 
of  apparently  equal  trustworthiness.  It  would  be  hard  to 
find  a subject  on  which  such  absolutely  contradictory 
opinions  are  expressed  with  a greater  degree  of  positive- 
ness than  that  of  the  modern  Greeks.  Following  are  a 
few  typical  sentences : 

“When  it  is  of  importance  to  know  the  exact  truth  the 
Greek  can  be  trusted  quite  as  much  as  the  average  Ameri- 
can.” The  Greek  priest  is  “poor  always,  superstitious 
usually,  ignorant  often,  he  is  without  exception  sincere.”* 

“Taken  as  a whole  the  Greeks  are  a moral  and  orderly 
people.”t 

“Cowards,  bearers  of  false  witness  and  liars  are  common 
national  types.”  “The  Greek  race  is  unworthy  of  the 
sympathy  of  honest  and  brave  men.”t 

“There  may  be  great  piety  in  Greek  homes  but  the 
visitor  sees  none  of  it.”§ 

“From  all  that  I have  been  able  to  learn,  I cannot  have 
the  least  hesitation  in  asserting  that  family  life,  the  corner 
stone  of  social  morality,  has  maintained  itself  in  a much 

* The  Modern  Greek,  W.  A.  Elliott,  Chautauquan,  43 : 144. 

f Life  and  Travel  in  Modern  Greece,  T.  D.  Seymour,  Scribner’s, 
4:46. 

t Greece  and  Its  People,  Saturday  Review,  84:456. 

§ Monasteries  and  Religion  in  Greece,  J.  P.  MahafPy,  Chautauquan, 

9: 1. 

la 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


purer  state  in  Greece  than  in  the  other  countries  of 
southern  Europe.”* 

Lord  Byron  himself  said,  “The  Greeks  are  perhaps  the 
most  depraved  and  degraded  people  under  the  sun,  uniting 
to  their  original  vices  both  those  of  their  oppressors  and 
those  inherent  in  slaves.”t 

“No  motive  appeals  more  strongly  to  the  modern  Greek 
than  the  desire  to  be  worthy  of  those  he  believes  to  be  his 

ancestors All  the  traditions  of  a glorious  past  are 

moulded  into  the  fabric  of  his  little  state The  new 

life  and  its  language,  as  well  as  the  new  state,  is  a reem- 
bodiment of  the  old.”t 

“Now  to  the  modern  Greek  himself  this  feeling  (of  senti- 
mentally linking  the  new  Greece  with  the  old)  is  utterly 

unnatural,  and  indeed  hardly  intelligible The 

Hellenic  past  beyond  that  (the  historical  Greek  church) 
is  infinitely  more  remote  and  unreal  to  him  than  it  is  to 

ourselves The  whole  play  is  largely  a farce  in  his 

eyes.  The  enthusiastic  Philhellene  is  a benevolent  mad- 
man to  him,  but  a madman  whom  it  is  worth  while  to 
humor. ”§ 

As  the  former  of  these  last  two  quotations  was  written 
in  1897  and  the  latter  in  1885  we  perhaps  ought  to  make 
allowance  for  a slight  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Greek 
on  this  matter,  due  to  twelve  years  of  tutelage  under  the 
benevolently  mad  Philhellene. 

* Character,  Condition  and  Prospects  of  the  Greek  People,  Western 
Review,  63:345. 

f Quoted  in  The  Spoilt  Child  of  Europe,  R.  W.  Hanbury,  Nine- 
teenth Century,  6 : 938. 

I The  Modern  Greek  as  a Fighting  Man,  Benj.  Ide  Wheeler,  North 
American  Review,  164:609. 

§ Ancient  and  Modern  Greek,  W.  C.  Lawton,  A tlantic,  56 : 399. 

18 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


This  variety  of  opinions  is  undoubtedly  due  in  part  to 
this  same  ardent  PhiUiellenism  which  inspires  so  many 
travelers  to  classic  lands.  In  the  mind  of  the  typical  pil- 
grim, especially  of  a generation  or  two  ago,  anything 
Greek  was  shrouded  in  a romantic  mist  of  glory.  The 
words,  actions  and  avocations  of  the  modern  peasant  were 
regarded  through  the  rainbow  glasses  of  a glorious  tradi- 
tion, and  the  effusions  of  the  ever  present  guide  ranked 
for  historical  accuracy  with  the  writings  of  Herodotus. 
Set  side  by  side  with  a description  written  from  this  point 
of  view,  an  unbiased  statement  of  the  cold,  bare  facts  must 
of  necessity  seem  sadly  inharmonious. 

But  there  is  a more  fundamental  reason  than  this  for 
the  discrepancy.  The  very  diversity  of  life  and  interest 
which  has  been  noted  above,  has  produced  a diversity  of 
character.  As  are  the  Greeks  of  one  region,  so  are  they 
not  of  another.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  make  any 
general  statements  in  regard  to  the  Greek  character 
against  which  a host  of  exceptions  will  not  rise  in  protest. 
And  this  is  true,  not  only  of  the  race  as  a whole,  but  of 
individuals.  One  finds  the  strangest  mixture  of  contra- 
dictory qualities  manifesting  themselves  under  different 
circumstances  in  the  same  person.  At  one  moment  one 
feels  his  heart  swelling  with  admiration  for  the  modern 
Greek  as  one  of  the  finest  types  in  the  world.  The  next,, 
seeing  him  from  a different  angle,  he  feels  that  he  is  abso- 
lutely despicable.  Accordingly,  in  the  ensuing  considera- 
tion of  modern  Greek  character,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  effort  is  made  to  picture  the  people  as  a whole. 
Anyone  familiar  with  a number  of  Greeks  will  be  able  to 
find  individuals  whose  lives  and  character  will  gainsay 
almost  every  statement  that  shall  be  made. 


14 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


This  diversity  of  character  has  undoubtedly  been  aug- 
mented by  the  checkered  career  of  the  Greek  race  in  the 
last  twenty  centuries  and  the  various  admixtures  of  foreign 
blood  to  which  the  racial  stock  has  been  submitted.  This 
brings  us  to  a matter  about  which  there  has  been  endless 
discussion  of  a more  or  less  passionate  nature — the  ques- 
tion of  the  physical  descent  of  the  modern  from  the 
ancient  Greeks.  To  a clear  understanding  of  this  subject 
a brief  survey  of  the  history  of  the  race  from  the  time  of 
the  Roman  conquest  is  essential. 

A hundred  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  under  Roman  domination,  the  population  of  Greece, 
already  largely  composed  of  slaves,  was  undergoing  a 
further  degradation.  Alien  invaders  came  in  and  the  old 
stock  was  dispersed.  This  process  continued  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  A.  D.,  when  the  invasions 
of  the  Goths  marked  the  beginning  of  a long  series  of 
inundations  from  the  north.  The  Goths  were  followed  by 
the  Vandals,  the  Avars,  and  the  Slavs,  and  finally  by  the 
great  fiood  of  Albanians,  whose  influence  on  the  racial 
stock  was  the  most  lasting  of  any.  For  centuries  Greece 
was  the  shuttlecock  of  foreign  conquerors.  The  Romans 
and  the  barbarians  were  followed  by  the  French  and  the 
Venetians.  Finally,  about  1460,  the  Turks  got  complete 
possession  of  the  land,  and  then  began  three  and  a half 
centuries  of  oppression  more  grinding  and  terrible  than 
anything  that  had  gone  before.  Every  imaginable  indig- 
nity was  heaped  upon  the  miserable  denizens  of  the  once 
glorious  land.  The  crowning  insult  was  the  child  tax, 
by  which  one  fifth  of  all  the  male  Christian  children  in 
Greece  were  taken  away  to  Constantinople,  to  become 
servants,  clerks  and  janissaries  for  the  Turk.  The 


15 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


strongest,  healthiest  and  most  intelligent  children  were 
always  chosen,  and  the  tax  was  so  oppressive  that  it 
caused  many  to  become  Mohammedans,  while  others 
reached  a pitch  of  degradation  where  they  welcomed  the 
tax  as  a means  of  saving  their  children  from  starvation. 
During  all  this  period  the  Greeks  in  Egypt,  Asia  Minor 
and  Syria  were  suffering  like  misfortunes  under  the  Arabs 
and  the  various  successive  masters  of  these  lands. 

At  last,  in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
spirit  of  independence  awoke,  and  in  1821  began  the  long 
struggle  which  seven  years  later  culminated  in  the  freedom 
of  Greece  from  the  Turkish  yoke.  The  task  of  recon- 
struction was  a difficult  one.  Athens  was  in  ruins,  scarcely 
any  of  the  houses  even  having  roofs.  A new  state  had  to 
be  created  from  nothing  but  ashes.  As  there  was  no  royal 
family  in  existence,  a ruler  had  to  be  chosen.  Capo 
d’  Istria  was  first  made  president,  but  he  proved  unequal 
to  the  position  and  was  assassinated  in  1831.  Next  a 
Bavarian  boy  of  seventeen  was  called  to  become  king,  and 
ruled  as  King  Otho  until  1862,  when  he  too  was  deposed. 
Then  George  of  Denmark,  a brother  of  the  dowager 
queen,  Alexandra  of  England,  was  called  to  the  throne, 
and  has  managed  to  hold  his  position  up  to  the  present 
time.  His  cool,  even  nature  proved  a valuable  counter- 
poise to  the  excitability  of  his  subjects.  But  his  task  was 
a difficult  one,  and  progress  was  so  slow  that  in  1888  the 
historian  Cox  wrote;* 

“That  man  must  be  sanguine  indeed  who  can  bring 
himself  to  think  that  during  the  years  that  have  passed 
(since  the  deposition  of  Otho)  the  evils  which  affect  Greek 
society  have  been  attacked  at  their  roots The  old 

* Cox,  General  History  of  Greece,  p.  670. 


16 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


faults  of  the  Greek  character  still  produce  their  evil  fruit 
of  personal  corruption,  of  reckless  place-hunting,  of 
selfishness,  faction,  jealousy  and  slander.  The  memory 
of  a great  past  still  leads  to  talking  rather  than  action ; 
and  the  close  of  half  a century  of  independence  leaves  the 
Greeks  much  where  they  were  when  the  first  years  of 
freedom  seemed  to  give  promise  of  better  things.” 

The  very  considerable  progress,  both  intellectual  and 
material,  which  has  been  made  since  that  time  reflects  a 
great  deal  of  credit  upon  both  sovereign  and  subjects. 

With  these  facts  in  view  there  have  yet  been  plenty  of 
writers  to  take  both  sides  of  the  race  controversy.  Out 
of  the  voluminous  literature  on  the  subject  the  following 
opinions  may  be  quoted: 

“I  am  unable,  for  one,  to  accept  the  theory  that  the 
modern  Greeks  are  in  any  real  sense  either  the  true  repre- 
sentatives of  the  ancient  Greek  race  or  the  repository  of 
its  traditions.”* 

“Living  in  the  midst  of  the  same  surroundings,  with 
the  same  climate,  the  same  needs,  and  the  same  occupa- 
tions, the  Greeks  have  retained  many  of  the  peculiarities 
of  their  ancestors.  The  foreign  blood  which  runs  in  their 
veins  has  been  thoroughly  assimilated. ”t 

Perhaps  the  strongest  advocate  of  the  unity  of  the 
modern  with  the  ancient  race  is  an  Italian,  Dr.  G.  Nico- 
lucci,  whose  work  is  reviewed  by  J.  B.  D.  in  the  Anthropo- 
logical Review  (6:164).  He  concludes  that  in  physical 
and  moral  characteristics  the  Greeks  of  today  are  not 

* The  Thessalian  War  of  1897,  Charles  Williams,  Fortnightly 
Review,  67 : 959. 

f Life  and  Travel  in  Modern  Greece,  T.  D.  Seymour,  Scribner’s, 
4:46. 


17 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


degraded  from  the  happiest  days  of  the  ancients.  “An- 
thropology ....  proclaims  the  Greeks  of  today  legitimate 
descendants  of  that  people  who  filled  the  world  with  its 
name  and  glory.” 

But  the  bulk  of  authority,  including  such  names  as 
Cox,  Professor  FaUmerayer,  A.  L.  Koeppen,  Dr.  Hyde 
Clark,  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  and  W.  A.  Elliott,  is  on 
the  other  side.  Professor  FaUmerayer  went  so  far  as  to 
claim  that  the  Hellenic  blood  was  completely  annihilated. 
Perhaps  the  most  trustworthy  summary  is  that  given  by 
Prof.  William  Z.  Ripley  in  his  Races  of  Europe,  Chapter 
XV. 

“The  modern  Greeks  are  a very  mixed  people.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  this  from  a review  of  their  history. 
In  despite  of  this,  they  still  remain  distinctly  true  to 
their  original  Mediterranean  ancestry.  This  has  been 
most  convincingly  proved  in  respect  of  their  head  form. 
. . . . There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Asia  Minor,  at  least, 
the  word  Greek  is  devoid  of  any  racial  significance.  It 
merely  denotes  a man  who  speaks  Greek,  or  else  one  who 
is  a Greek  Catholic,  converted  from  Mohammedanism.” 

The  unbiased  traveler  in  modern  Greece  can  hardly 
fail  to  be  converted  to  the  belief  in  a serious  admixture. 
Albanian  settlements  are  frequent  in  many  districts  of 
Greece.  Eleusis,  the  home  of  the  ancient  Mysteries,  is 
now  an  Albanian  town.  Within  two  hours’  walk  of  Athens, 
I strolled  into  the  Uttle  village  of  Kamatero.  I entered 
the  coffee-house  and  sat  down  for  a little  conversation 
with  the  host.  Noticing  that  he  spoke  in  a strange 
tongue  to  his  wife,  I asked  him  what  it  was.  He  replied: 
“Albanian.  But  not  true  Albanian.  We  in  the  village 
here  are  all  ‘half-tongues.’  ” In  Messenia  there  is  a large 

18 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


Albanian  population.  When  the  railroad  was  put 
through  between  Zevgalatio  and  Kalonero,  there  was  a 
discussion  between  a Greek  village  and  an  Albanian  one 
as  to  the  name  of  a station  which  lay  midway  between  the 
two,  with  the  result  that  the  present  station  building  bears 
on  one  end  the  name  “^tos,”  and  on  the  other  “Soulima.” 
It  is  almost  inconceivable  in  the  face  of  such  evidence,  and 
in  remembrance  of  the  frequent  invasions  to  which  Greece 
was  subjected  for  so  many  centuries,  that  there  should  not 
have  been  a very  profound  admixture  of  foreign  blood. 
While  most  modern  Greeks  deny  this  vehemently,  it  is 
nevertheless  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  a Greek  who  admits 
that  the  race  is  a badly  mixed  lot,  though  he  usually 
excepts  his  own  locality. 

It  is  certainly  hard  to  find  any  great  number  of  modern 
Greeks  who  in  physical  characteristics  suggest  the  classic 
type.  There  are  a number  of  fairly  distinct  types  to  be 
observed  today.  One  of  the  commonest  is  of  a fleshy  habit, 
with  rather  broad  and  heavy  features,  and  a nose  large 
and  almost  bulbous.  As  regards  anthropology,  the 
modern  Greek  is  more  broad  headed  than  the  ancient, 
whom  both  Nicolucci  and  Ripley  agree  to  have  been 
dolichocephalic,  with  an  index  of  about  75.7.  According 
to  the  latter,  “The  cephalic  index  of  modern  living  Greeks 
ranges  with  great  constancy  about  81.”  Dolichocephaly 
is  especially  prevalent  in  Thessaly  and  Attica,  while 
brachycephaly  is  more  abundant  to  the  north,  particularly 
in  Epirus.  About  Corinth,  where  there  is  Albanian  mix- 
ture, the  index  rises  above  83.  On  the  whole  the  Pelo- 
ponnesus is  said  to  have  best  preserved  the  early  dolicho- 
cephaly. Modern  Greeks  are  decidedly  brunet,  perhaps 
more  so  than  the  ancients,  though  we  can  not  go  as  far 


19 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


as  one  author  who  has  attempted  to  prove  that  the  ancient 
Greeks  were  blonds  on  the  basis  of  the  fact  that  the  gods 
were  usually  represented  as  of  fair  complexion.  He 
argues  that  the  gods  would  undoubtedly  represent  the 
type  of  the  race  and  that  therefore  the  majority  of  the 
population  must  have  been  blond.  The  absurdity  of  such 
a course  of  reasoning  appears  when  we  remember  that  the 
modem  Greek  has  a profound  admiration  for  blondness, 
because  it  is  so  rare,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the 
ancients  represented  their  gods  in  this  way  for  the  same 
reason. 

In  regard  to  the  pigmentation  of  the  eyes,  the  brunet 
type  of  the  modern  Greek  is  frequently  varied  with  blue 
or  gray.  In  stature  the  modem  Greek  is  intermediate 
between  the  Turks,  and  the  Albanians  and  Dalmatians, 
about  1.65  meters  or  5 feet  and  5 inches.  The  character- 
istic face  is  orthognathous,  oval,  rather  narrow  and  high, 
though  as  observed  above,  in  regard  to  features  there  is 
great  variation. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  in  regard  to  the  physical 
descent,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  spiritually  the 
modern  Greeks  are  the  direct  inheritors  of  the  ancients. 
A familiarity  with  the  modern  people  brings  countless 
Illustrations  of  the  similarity  of  thought  and  character 
between  the  old  and  the  new,  and  clarifies  many  a dim 
passage  in  ancient  history.  This  spiritual  identity  has 
been  taken  by  some  writers  as  a proof  of  physical  unity. 
It  should  rather  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the  permanency 
of  custom,  language,  and  habit  of  thought,  which  enables 
national  character  to  survive,  while  the  physical  basis  on 
which  it  rests  is  slowly  but  profoundly  changing.  The 
modern  Greek  is  still  a wanderer,  adventurous,  devoted 


20 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


to  a sea-faring  life.  He  has  “that  peculiar  mingling  of 
caution  and  daring  supplemented  with  resourcefulness  and 
enterprise,  that  make  the  ideal  sailor.”*  He  is  still  very 
inquisitive,  a great  talker,  as  eager  as  ever  to  “tell  or  to 
hear  some  new  thing.”  He  will  make  a long  story,  illus- 
trated with  emphatic  gestures,  out  of  the  very  simplest 
occurrence,  and  two  Greeks  are  never  at  a loss  for  some- 
thing to  talk  about.  Greece,  particularly  Athens,  is 
flooded  with  newspapers.  It  is  said  that  Athens  publishes 
more  daily  newspapers  than  New  York.  They  contain 
a good  deal  of  news,  but  they  also  contain  a considerable 
amount  of  scurrilous  abuse  of  each  other  and  of  various 
public  personages,  which  is  highly  pleasing  to  the  Greek 
palate. 

The  Greeks  share  many  characteristics  with  other  south 
European  races.  They  are  passionate,  quick-tempered 
and  excitable,  though  their  impetuosity  does  not  so  often 
lead  to  serious  crimes  as  in  the  case  of  the  Italians.  They 
are  voluble  and  very  fond  of  noise.  To  see  a crowd  of 
men  gathered  round  a card  table  one  would  think  that 
they  were  on  the  very  point  of  a bloody  hand-to-hand 
encounter.  The  cards  are  slammed  down  on  the  table 
with  the  greatest  violence,  fists  are  shaken  in  faces,  and 
such  epithets  as  “thief,”  “liar,”  and  “scoundrel”  circulate 
freely.  But  in  point  of  fact  the  players  are  on  just  as 
friendly  terms  as  a couple  of  northerners  calmly  discussing 
the  prospect  of  rain  the  next  day.  This  fondness  of  the 
Greek  for  noise  is  of  course  greatest  if  he  makes  it  himself. 
It  may  be  mere  vociferation.  It  takes  more  shouting  for 
a couple  of  boatmen  to  bring  their  bark  to  the  gangway 
of  a steamer  than  an  Anglo-Saxon  would  require  to 
* The  Modern  Greek,  W.  A.  Elliott,  Chautauquan,  43:144. 


21 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


manoeuver  a fleet,  while  on  an  occasion  like  the  arrival  of 
a big  steamer  in  the  Piraeus,  when  there  are  fifty  boats 
struggling  for  the  patronage,  the  effect  is  like  a very 
Babel  let  loose.  But  it  may  also  be  music.  The  Greeks 
are  beyond  doubt  a very  musical  people.  The  cabman 
on  his  box,  the  bootblack  at  his  stand,  the  clerk  behind  the 
counter,  and  the  shepherd  on  the  hillside  are  alike  liable  at 
any  moment  to  burst  forth  into  song.  The  visitor  to  the 
prison  on  the  hill  back  of  Patras  is  pathetically  impressed 
with  this  fact  as  he  sees  a group  of  prisoners  seated  around 
a table,  singing  away  the  afternoon  to  the  accompaniment 
of  a guitar. 

The  real  native  music  is  of  a strictly  Oriental  type, 
weird,  minor  melodies,  pitched  in  a high  key  and  sung  in 
a nasal  voice,  with  various  grunts  and  groans,  all  quite 
meaningless  and  often  ludicrous  to  a western  ear.  Here, 
too,  volume  is  an  essential.  One  of  the  printed  rules  in 
one  of  the  hotels  in  Tripolis  is,  “Guests  are  not  allowed 
to  sing  in  their  rooms.”  But  when  trained  in  Occidental 
music  the  Greeks  produce  very  fine  effects,  both  vocally 
and  instrumentally.  The  military  bands  that  one  hears  so 
frequently  in  Athens  are  well  worth  listening  to.  The 
native  songs  are  almost  all  passionate  love  songs,  quite 
out  of  accord  with  the  national  marriage  customs.  To 
hear  some  dark-haired  dandy,  “his  eyes  in  a fine  frenzy 
rolling,”  sing  in  an  impassioned  voice. 

By  fate  men  wander  far,  some  east,  some  west. 

The  eyes  see  other  places,  new  and  strange; 

In  some  new  tree  the  doves  rebuild  their  nest; 

The  heart  alone  of  all  things  knows  no  change,* 

* Freely  translated  from  a popular  song. 


22 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


one  would  never  suspect  that  at  that  very  minute  the 
singer  might  be  carrying  on  negotiations  with  two  or 
three  different  fathers  to  see  which  would  pay  him  the 
highest  price  to  take  his  daughter  off  his  hands. 

The  Greeks  are  also  very  fond  of  dancing.  The  folk 
dances  are  generally  performed  by  men  individually, 
though  sometimes  two  or  even  more  will  unite,  and  occa- 
sionally a man  will  lead  one  or  more  women  through  the 
dance,  the  man  and  the  woman  next  him  holding  the  oppo- 
site ends  of  a handkerchief.  The  movements  differ  in 
various  locahties,  but  in  general  consist  of  a series  of 
attitudes,  poses  and  slow  gyrations,  accompanied  at  times 
with  snapping  the  fingers  or  shouts.  In  the  cities  the 
society  circles  have  taken  up  mixed  dances,  waltzes,  two- 
steps,  etc.,  which  under  the  existing  social  conditions  is 
a change  not  wholly  desirable  or  beneficial. 

The  Greeks  are  by  nature  courteous,  polite  and  hos- 
pitable. Strangers  are  regarded  with  frank  curiosity 
and  are  subjected  to  all  sorts  of  personal  inquiries,  in 
regard  to  age,  business,  destination,  marital  condition  and 
a host  of  other  topics.  But  they  are  welcomed,  and  kindly 
treated.  A Greek  will  gladly  give  up  a whole  day  to  the 
entertainment  of  a stranger  in  whom  he  is  interested. 
The  Greek  language  contains  many  graceful  salutations 
and  greetings.  One  of  them,  “wpto-aTe,”  corresponding  to 
the  Turkish,  “bouyurenes,”  would  add  much  to  the  English 
language  if  it,  or  something  of  the  same  significance, 
could  be  adopted.  It  has  a wide  variety  of  meanings, 
such  as  “welcome,”  “help  yourself,”  “sit  down,”  “glad  to 
see  you,”  “beg  your  pardon,”  etc.,  but  in  general  it  means 
that  you  are  to  make  yourself  at  home  and  have  anything 
that  you  want.  Unfortunately,  in  regions  especially  sub- 

23 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


ject  to  tourist  visitation,  this  natural  hospitality  has  been 
brought  into  conflict  with  the  equally  natural  commercial 
spirit,  and  has  lost  much  of  its  charm.  But  outside  of 
those  classes  whose  business  is  serving  travelers,  a Greek 
who  has  rendered  some  slight  service  will,  with  refreshing 
frequency,  refuse  a tip. 

The  commercial  spirit  and  shrewd  business  ability  are 
very  characteristic  of  the  modern  Greeks.  As  already 
remarked,  they  are  the  business  men  of  the  Levant.  They 
are  successful  traders  wherever  they  go,  particularly  if 
they  are  dealing  with  people  of  somewhat  less  alert  minds. 
Unhappily  this  love  of  trade  frequently  develops  into  a 
decidedly  mercenary  spirit.  If  the  love  of  money  is  a 
root  of  all  evil  we  have  not  far  to  seek  for  the  cause  of 
many  of  the  vices  which  affect  the  Greek  nation.  A five 
minutes’  conversation  between  two  Greeks  is  almost  certain 
to  touch,  first  or  last,  upon  money  matters.  Unfortu- 
nately also,  this  commercial  spirit  is  all  too  frequently 
coupled  with  commercial  dishonesty.  Illustrations  of  this 
will  come  up  later.  It  has  probably  done  more  than  any 
other  one  thing  to  counteract  the  natural  energy,  enter- 
prise and  ability  of  the  nation,  and  impede  the  industrial 
progress  of  Greece. 

In  general,  dishonesty  is  one  of  the  most  serious  faults 
of  the  race.  It  expresses  itself  in  lying,  and  in  business 
and  political  untrustworthiness,  not  so  often  in  actual 
theft.  Commercial  travelers  complain  of  the  readiness 
wdth  which  Greek  business  men  will  break  a contract,  if 
better  terms  are  subsequently  offered  from  another  source. 
Tlie  universality  of  the  habit  of  lying  is  something  which 
impresses  almost  every  traveler,  and  one  is  at  first  almost 
inclined  to  think  that  the  Greek  will  He  in  preference  to 


24 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


telling  the  truth,  even  when  there  is  no  question  of  advan- 
tage. But  this  is  an  injustice.  The  fact  is,  not  so  much 
that  the  Greek  is  a liar,  as  that  he  is  not  a truth  teller. 
The  American  youth  is  trained  from  infancy  to  the  belief 
that  whatever  happens  the  truth  must  be  told.  The  Greek 
feels  that  if  any  important  matter  is  at  stake,  such  as 
his  own  personal  gain,  or  the  good  name  of  the  race,  truth 
is  subsidiary,  and  must  be  sacrificed  to  greater  ends. 
But  the  result  is  that  it  is  far  from  safe  to  put  too  much 
confidence  in  the  statements  or  promises  of  the  average 
Greek,  where  there  is  the  slightest  chance  of  any  personal 
interest  being  at  stake. 

So  in  business  dealings  the  principle  of  caveat  emptor 
certainly  prevails.  A shopkeeper  will  leave  half  his  stock 
exposed  and  unguarded  without  the  slightest  fear,  and 
a peddler  has  no  hesitation  in  letting  his  donkey  get  out 
of  sight  two  or  three  corners  ahead  of  him.  He  knows 
that  his  goods  will  not  be  molested.  But  when  it  comes 
to  actual  trade,  then  it  is  a contest  of  wits,  without  any 
compunction  if  a serious  advantage  is  taken  of  ignorance 
or  lack  of  ability. 

This  practice  of  haggling  over  a bargain,  which  it  must 
be  said  seems  to  be  on  the  decline,  is  partly  due  to  a love 
of  play,  a sort  of  childishness,  which  is  a prominent  feature 
of  the  Greek  character.  Trade  is  regarded  as  a form  of 
sport  and  you  win  the  admiration  rather  than  the  ill  will 
of  your  opponent  if  you  get  the  better  of  him.  This  fond- 
ness of  the  Greek  for  making  a game  of  everything  has 
been  well  described  by  Benj.  Ide  Wheeler.*  He  is  writing 
especially  in  regard  to  the  prospects  of  the  Greek  nation 

* The  Modern  Greek  as  a Fighting  Man,  Benj.  Ide  Wheeler,  North 
American  Review,  164:609. 


25 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


in  the  approaching  war  with  Turkey  (1897).  He  remarks 
that  war  was  always  a form  of  sport  among  the  Greeks, 
and  a battle  was  a sort  of  game.  He  predicted  that  as 
long  as  the  war  bore  the  character  of  a hunt  with  a large 
element  of  chance,  adventure,  excitement  and  individual 
achievement  the  Greeks  would  prove  themselves  good 
soldiers.  But  as  soon  as  it  settled  down  to  long  hard 
campaigns,  dull  delays,  and  systematic  movements  en 
masse,  the  results  would  not  be  so  favorable,  for  the  Greek 
hates  plodding,  and  does  not  submit  readily  to  discipline 
or  authority.  “As  long  as  war  presents  some  reasonable 
element  of  sport,  a chance  of  winning,  a fair  opportunity 
for  exercise  of  the  wits,  features  of  surprise  and  shifting 
interest,  the  Greek  will  stay  by  and  be  an  admirable 
soldier,  but  any  application  of  the  one-price  system — the 
mechanical  routine  of  drill,  the  monotonous  life  of  the 
camp,  the  mechanism  of  march  and  retreat — will  set  his 
war  fervor  sorely  to  the  test.” 

The  Greek’s  love  of  authority  manifests  itself  on 
frequent  occasions,  and  is  one  of  the  principal  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  united  effort  in  any  direction  of  national 
interest.  The  Greek  hates  to  submit  to  the  control  or 
direction  of  any  one,  especially  one  of  his  own  race.  But 
clothe  him  with  a little  authority  and  he  feels  fairly  in  his 
element.  In  his  fondness  for  uniform  caps  he  almost  equals 
the  German.  Even  the  street  car  conductor  or  the  watch- 
man at  a grade  crossing  feels  a tremendous  sense  of  his 
own  importance  and  asserts  it  with  a great  deal  of  flourish. 
This  probably  accounts  in  part  for  the  reckless  way  in 
which  carriage  drivers  urge  their  horses  through  the  most 
crowded  streets  of  the  cities  without  the  slightest  apparent 
consideration  for  pedestrians.  Being  in  possession  of  a 


26 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


certain  sort  of  superiority,  they  see  no  reason  why  they 
should  not  make  the  most  of  it.  There  is  also  no  consider- 
ation for  the  feelings  of  the  horse,  for  the  Greek  is  very 
harsh  in  his  treatment  of  animals.  One  who  knows  them 
well  says  that  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  say  that  they  are  the 
most  cruel  people  to  animals  in  the  world.  This  is,  how- 
ever, probably  something  of  an  exaggeration,  for  one  does 
not  see  the  open  and  universal  abuse  of  animals  on  the 
street  which  is  so  familiar  and  so  depressing  in  Naples, 
for  instance.  Nevertheless,  there  is  plenty  of  room  for 
improvement  among  the  Greeks.  One  day  in  the  environs 
of  Athens  I saw  a man  entertaining  himself  and  a couple 
of  children  in  the  following  way.  He  had  a crow,  which 
for  some  reason  had  lost  the  power  of  flight,  and  was  hold- 
ing it  in  the  air  for  a dog  to  jump  at.  He  would  allow 
the  dog  just  to  get  his  teeth  over  some  of  the  feathers  and 
then  would  jerk  the  bird  away.  After  doing  this  a few 
times,  he  would  put  the  crow  on  the  ground  and  let  it 
hobble  away,  holding  the  dog  in  the  meantime,  until  the 
crow  was  twenty  or  thirty  feet  away.  Then  he  would 
loose  the  animal  and  allow  it  to  catch  the  bird,  rescuing 
the  latter  however  before  it  was  killed  in  order  that  the 
whole  process  might  be  repeated.  All  three  seemed  to  be 
enjoying  the  sport  immensely  and  manifested  not  the  least 
sense  of  shame.  When  the  bird  finally  expired  under  the 
treatment  the  only  apparent  regret  was  that  the  pastime 
was  ended. 

The  public  dog  catcher  in  Athens  makes  use  of  a pair 
of  powerful  steel  pincers,  perhaps  twelve  feet  long,  with 
which  he  seizes  the  dog  across  the  ribs,  fairly  crushing 
them  with  the  pressure.  The  poor  victim  is  then  dragged 
after  him  down  the  street,  shrieking  with  agony,  and 


27 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


nobody  thinks  anything  of  it.  People  have  a sort  of 
superstitious  disKke  of  kilhng  kittens,  but  will  leave  a new- 
born litter  of  them  out  to  starve  in  a cold  corner  without 
the  least  compunction.  This  absence  of  sympathy  between 
man  and  the  dumb  animals  has  been  cited  by  one  shrewd 
observer  as  one  of  the  great  causes  of  the  notorious  weak- 
ness of  the  Greek  cavalry. 

Probably  the  most  pervasive  and  serious  vice  of 
the  people  is  gambling.  The  element  of  chance  has  an 
immense  attraction  for  the  Greek,  and  is  manifested  in 
many  ways.  Lotteries  flourish  everywhere.  A common 
advertisement  in  coffee-houses,  groceries,  etc.,  all  over  the 
kingdom  is  of  a national  lottery  for  the  support  of  the 
fleet  and  the  maintenance  of  the  antiquities.  On  the 
occasion  of  religious  festivals  and  other  gatherings  of 
the  people,  gambhng  games  are  much  in  evidence.  They 
vary  in  type  and  in  simplicity.  One  of  the  most  obvious 
that  I have  seen  consisted  of  an  eight-sided  top  spun  in 
a soup  plate.  The  sides  were  numbered  from  one  to  eight 
and  the  player  was  invited  to  bet  a “pendara”  on  the 
number  of  the  side  which  he  picked  as  the  one  on  which 
the  top  would  come  to  rest.  If  he  won  he  received  five 
“pendaras.”  Anyone  could  see  that  the  “dealer”  stood 
eight  chances  of  winning  to  the  player’s  five,  and  appar- 
ently most  of  them  did,  for  the  game  was  not  largely 
patronized.  This  passion  for  gambling  infests  every 
phase  of  Greek  life  to  such  an  extent  as  to  lead  travelers 
frequently  to  express  themselves  in  some  such  terms  as 
the  following: 

“It  seems  to  be  the  irony  of  fate  that  a country  with 
the  traditions  and  associations  of  Greece  should  today  be 
possessed  and  governed  by  a people  whose  one  national 


28 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


instinct  is  gambling,  and  who  while  talking  of  the 
aspirations  of  Hellenism,  occupy  their  time  in  political 
intrigue.”* 

The  Greek  is  much  inclined  to  be  indolent,  egotistical, 
vain  and  superficial.  While  he  displays  great  enterprise 
in  business  ventures,  nevertheless  his  highest  ambition  is 
to  acquire  sufficient  means  so  that  he  can  spend  the  last 
years  of  his  life  sitting  in  idleness  in  the  clubs  and  coffee- 
houses, discussing  politics  and  the  thousand  and  one  trivial 
things  that  a Greek  can  find  to  occupy  his  mind.  This 
coffee-house  habit  is  one  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  to 
national  progress.  At  all  hours  of  the  day  these  resorts 
are  full  of  men,  idling  away  their  time  drinking  coffee, 
smoking,  playing  cards  and  talking.  It  is  a harmless 
enough  pastime  in  itself  and  has  social  features  which 
would  commend  it  if  engaged  in  with  moderation.  But 
the  amount  of  time  that  is  absolutely  frittered  away  in 
this  fashion  would  accomplish  great  things  for  the  nation 
if  applied  to  some  useful  purpose.  The  Greek  loves  to 
keep  up  the  appearance  of  prosperity  and  leisure.  In 
Patras  and  Athens  there  is  a numerous  class  of  so-called 
^‘black-coats,”  young  men  of  uncertain  occupation,  who 
are  much  in  evidence  in  the  coffee-houses  and  public 
squares,  appearing  faultlessly  attired  and  ostensibly 
enjoying  an  important  and  lucrative  business,  though 
in  point  of  fact,  as  some  one  has  remarked,  “they  may 
not  have  two  francs  to  jingle  together  in  their  pockets.” 
It  is  said  on  good  authority  that  the  business  buildings 
which  pay  the  highest  rent  are  the  coffee-houses,  and  the 
next  are  the  barber-shops. 

* The  Conduct  and  Present  Condition  of  Greece,  Walter  B.  Harris, 
Blackwood’s,  162:268. 


29 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Love  of  glory  is  a prominent  feature  of  the  national 
character.  There  is  nothing  that  pleases  the  typical 
Greek  more  than  to  be  the  center  of  attraction — to  be 
in  the  limeliglit.  Mr.  Wheeler  says,  “It  was  an  old  say- 
ing of  the  other  Greeks  that  the  Athenians  rowed  well 
when  coming  into  the  harbor,”  and  the  same  might  be 
truly  said  of  the  whole  nation  today.  A Greek  proprietor 
of  a pool  hall  in  Omaha  told  me  that  he  was  planning  to 
spend  $200  or  $300  in  company  with  another  young  man 
in  playing  Achilles  at  the  Ak-Sar-Ben  festival  in  the  fall 
of  1908.  The  following  anecdote  illustrates  this  point 
nicely,  as  well  as  several  other  phases  of  Greek  character. 
In  front  of  one  of  the  steamship  offices  in  Patras  I was 
talking  with  one  of  the  agents  (a  Greek)  and  a young 
man  who  was  about  to  start  for  America.  The  boy  had 
been  in  the  United  States  before  and  I asked  him  if  he 
knew  English.  He  replied,  “Just  a little,”  whereupon 
the  agent  laughed  and  remarked  to  the  boy,  “You  say 
that  to  him,  but  if  I had  asked  you,  you  would  have  said, 
‘Oh,  yes,  I know  the  language  perfectly.’  ” Then  turning 
to  me  he  continued:  “You  see,  the  Greek  is  a great  lover 
of  glory,  and  about  things  that  do  no  harm,  he  lies 
valiantly.  If  there  is  anything  at  stake,  he  will  tell  the 
truth,  but  about  his  own  accomplishments  and  achieve- 
ments he  will  exaggerate  to  an  unlimited  extent.”  There 
is  no  better  way  of  expressing  this  element  of  character 
than  to  adopt  the  slang  phrase,  and  say  that  the  Greeks 
are  a nation  of  “grandstand  players.” 

This  love  of  display  is  coupled  with  great  confidence 
in  one’s  owm  abilities  and  readiness  to  undertake  any  sort 
of  a project.  This  is  an  important  element  in  Greek 
character  and  is  so  well  illustrated  by  the  course  of  the 


30 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


War  of  1897  that  we  are  justified  in  giving  a brief  space 
to  the  history  of  that  conflict.  The  boundary  line  between 
Greece  and  European  Turkey  has  always  been  a tender 
subject,  and  frequent  alterations  in  this  arbitrary  line  by 
the  European  powers,  toward  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  had  irritated  Greece  to  the  point  where  only  a 
slight  incentive  was  needed  to  cause  her  to  rise  in  protest. 
This  was  furnished  by  the  action  of  Turkey  in  promul- 
gating massacres  in  Crete  which  aroused  the  keenest 
resentment  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks.  By  the  middle  of 
February,  1897,  Crete  was  occupied  by  a Greek  military 
force.  Cretan  refugees  flocked  to  Athens  and  were  joined 
by  hosts  of  peasants,  swarming  in  from  the  hills.  The 
enthusiasm  for  war  was  intense.  “ Z^tw  6 iroXe/^os  ” was 
scribbled  with  chalk  on  walls  all  over  the  city.  Mobs 
daily  besieged  the  palace  demanding  that  war  be  declared 
at  once.  In  point  of  fact  the  country  was  absolutely  in 
no  condition  to  declare  war.  The  army  was  poorly 
officered,  undrilled,  inadequately  equipped  with  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  altogether  very  far  from  being  an 
efficient  war  machine.  But  nobody  paid  any  attention  to 
this.  Greece  had  been  insulted  and  must  be  avenged. 
There  was  undoubtedly  much  of  true  patriotism  in  the 
outcry.  But  there  was  also  much  of  bombast.  Those 
who  shouted  the  loudest  for  war  were  the  ones  who 
made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  avoid  enlistment.  But 
the  clamor  continued  with  increased  vehemence,  and  the 
great  throngs  before  the  palace  insisted  that  war  be 
declared  or  that  the  king  abdicate  and  the  ministry  resign. 
Meanwhile  the  secret  societies,  particularly  the  powerful 
Ethnike  Hetairia,  were  busy  and  encouraged  outbreaks 
on  the  frontier,  which  tended  to  force  the  king’s  hand. 

81 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


He  finally  felt  the  irresistibility  of  the  pressure  and 
yielded,  and  war  was  declared. 

Then  followed  a series  of  events  which  puzzled  observers 
and  made  the  contemporary  magazine  articles  on  the  sub- 
ject very  curious,  contradictory,  and  somewhat  amusing 
reading.  There  were  a number  of  conflicts  in  the  north 
of  Greece.  The  Greek  soldiers  fell  far  short  of  the  stand- 
ard which  they  had  established  for  themselves  in  the  war 
of  independence.  The  battles  were  described  as  a series 
of  panics,  and  the  officers  scathingly  condemned  for  the 
way  in  which  they  deserted  the  soldiers  after  a defeat  and 
left  them  to  pursue  their  retreat  as  best  they  could.  The 
Greek  fleet  was  much  superior  to  the  Turkish,  and  nobody 
could  understand  why  the  Turkish  military  trains  were 
allowed  to  pass  unmolested  along  the  Macedonian  railway, 
within  easy  range  of  the  coast,  where  a single  Greek  battle- 
ship might  have  completely  annihilated  both  the  trains 
and  the  railroad.  On  the  whole,  the  Turks  got  the  best 
of  the  conflicts.  But  when  they  apparently  had  the  sit- 
uation in  their  hands  they  failed  to  press  their  advantage, 
and,  seemingly  by  the  influence  of  the  powers,  peace  was 
arranged. 

In  explanation  of  these  puzzling  events,  the  following 
statement  was  given  me  by  a gentleman  in  Greece  who  is 
thoroughly  intimate  with  all  Greek  affairs,  social  and 
political,  and  whose  authority  is  unquestionable.  The 
Greek  people  were  sincere  in  their  rage  against  Turkey 
and  in  their  zeal  for  war.  When  it  became  evident  that 
the  king  would  be  forced  either  to  declare  war  or  to  abdi- 
cate, the  powers  of  Europe  saw  that  if  the  work  of  the 
past  thirty  years  was  not  to  be  wholly  undone,  some 
action  must  be  taken  at  once.  Accordingly,  the  British 


32 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


minister,  the  Greek  minister,  the  Turkish  minister  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  others  got  together  and  planned  out 
the  whole  war  beforehand.  The  battles,  attacks  and 
retreats  were  all  arranged  in  advance.  The  fighting  was 
planned  in  such  a way  as  to  cause  the  least  possible  blood- 
shed on  both  sides,  while  giving  the  people  a chance  to 
exhaust  some  of  their  war  fervor.  The  Greek  fleet  was 
allowed  to  bombard  a small  village  near  the  coast  but  was 
not  permitted  to  molest  any  of  the  Turkish  trains.  The 
Turkish  government  on  its  part  agreed  to  withdraw  its 
troops  from  Crete  and  cede  Thessaly  to  Greece. 

It  is  an  interesting  story  from  a historical  point  of 
view,  but  its  importance  to  us  at  present  is  in  the  side- 
light which  it  throws  on  the  Greek  character.  It  all 
turned  out  as  was  anticipated.  The  populace  very  soon 
lost  its  warlike  enthusiasm.  Those  who  had  been  the 
keenest  for  hostilities  were  the  slowest  to  take  up  the 
burdens  of  the  conflict.  There  is  considerable  justification 
for  statements  like  the  following,  which  occur  frequently 
in  the  contemporary  history  of  the  war. 

“The  national  vice  of  windy  enthusiasm  for  great  ends, 
combined  with  unwillingness  to  perform  the  solid  labors 
by  which  alone  these  can  be  secured,  has  at  last  brought 
despair  into  the  hearts  of  the  best  Greeks  at  home  and 
abroad.”* 

The  people  of  Athens  were  accused  of  showing  a callous 
indifference  to  the  results  of  the  war. 

“Frantic  at  first  with  the  war  fever,  they  have 
done  but  little  either  for  the  army,  the  wounded  or  the 
refugees.”  f 

*The  Wreck  of  Greece,  Henry  Norman,  Scribner’s,  22:399. 
f The  Conduct  and  Present  Condition  of  Greece,  Walter  B.  Harris, 
Blackwood’s,  162:286. 


33 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Many  writers  speak  of  the  extremely  democratic  char- 
acter of  the  Greeks.  This  is  perhaps  true  in  a pohtical 
way ; it  is  not  in  a social  way.  There  is  a well-developed 
sense  of  the  distinctions  between  the  social  grades.  Many 
times  I have  heard  Greeks  speak  in  a sneering  way  of  the 
low-class  Greeks  who  were  the  first  to  come  to  this  country 
and  of  the  bad  impression  which  they  have  given  the  nation 
in  the  minds  of  American  people. 

The  Greek  is  passionately  fond  of  politics  and  ambitious 
for  political  position.  Mr.  J.  Irving  Manatt  speaks  as 
follows  of  politics  in-  that  country : 

“Instead  of  party  government  Greece  groans  under 
‘boss’  government.”  The  spoils  system  flourishes.  The 
government  is  a whirligig.  “The  life  of  a Greek  ministry 
averages  a little  more  than  ten  months.”  * 

After  knowing  the  Greeks  for  some  time  one  is  strongly 
tempted  to  say  that  one  of  the  greatest  curses  of  the 
modern  nation  is  its  inheritance  from  a glorious  past. 
The  Greek  realizes  well  how  he  suffers  in  comparison  with 
his  predecessors,  but  seems  to  feel  that  past  greatness 
atones  and  compensates  for  present  failures.  Greece 
feels  that  Europe  and  civilization  in  general  owe  her  a 
debt  of  gratitude  and  support  in  return  for  the  contribu- 
tions made  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  two  thou- 
sand and  more  years  ago.  She  has  been  styled,  “the 
spoiled  child  of  Europe.”  Every  effort  is  made  to  estab- 
lish the  close  connection  between  the  modern  and  the 
ancient  nation,  and  the  assumption  is  that  if  this  can  be 
proved  any  present  shortcomings  are  of  slight  moment. 
A stupendous  project  has  just  been  launched,  that  of 

* The  Living  Greek,  J.  Irving  Manatt,  Review  of  Reviews  (Ameri- 
can), 11:398. 


34 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


compiling  a “Historical  Lexicon  of  the  Greek  language, 
from  its  earliest  use  to  the  present  time,”  which  is  to  con- 
tain every  word  ever  pronounced  by  Greek  mouths,  and 
is  expected  to  represent  the  “historical  evolution  of  the 
Greek  nation  and  its  racial  unity.”  This  is  perhaps  a 
very  commendable  undertaking  in  itself,  but  if  the  energy 
and  money  which  it  will  entail  could  be  expended  on  a 
serious  endeavor  to  conquer  some  of  the  problems  of  the 
modern  nation,  the  final  benefit  would  be  vastly  greater. 
In  fact,  one  cannot  help  feeling  that  if  the  modern  Greek 
could  cut  himself  loose  from  all  sense  of  a glorious  an- 
cestry-— including  such  wild  dreams  as  the  “grand  idea” 
of  possessing  the  whole  Turkish  Empire — and  could  bring 
himself  to  face  the  responsibility  of  the  improvement  of 
present  conditions,  and  to  take  up  the  burden  of  citizen- 
ship with  a spirit  of  serious  independence,  it  would  mean 
much  for  the  progress  of  the  country. 

Turning  to  some  of  the  more  pleasing  aspects  of  Greek 
character,  we  note  first  of  all  a genuine  patriotism,  mani- 
festing itself  in  a variety  of  ways.  It  is  perhaps  mis- 
guided at  times  but  it  is  almost  always  sincere.  If  some  of 
the  wealthy  men  who  devote  large  sums  of  money  to  the 
erection  of  costly  public  buildings,  expositions  and  stadia 
would  turn  their  attention  to  some  of  the  more  practical 
and  humble  needs  of  the  country,  which  perhaps  have  less 
of  personal  glory  connected  with  them,  it  would  be  a great 
gain.  Greece  could  well  use  large  sums  of  money  in  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  agricultural  and  tech- 
nical schools,  in  the  improvement  of  her  roads,  in  the 
betterment  of  some  of  her  harbors,  or  in  the  operation, 
perhaps  for  a time  at  a loss,  of  a large  woolen  mill. 
Nevertheless  the  spirit  which  animates  the  gifts  which  have 


35 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


done  so  much  to  beautify  Athens  is  truly  admirable. 
During  the  year  1905,  wealthy  Greeks  residing  abroad 
contributed  the  following  sums  of  money  for  the  purposes 
designated : * 


Syngros  Hospital  for  Venereal  Diseases 
Maraschleios  Normal  School 
Maraschleios  Commercial  Academy 
Aigeneton  Gynecological  and  Nervous  Dis- 
eases clinic 

Home  for  the  Aged  of  Athens 


1,500,000  drach.t 

900.000  drach. 

800.000  drach. 

500.000  drach. 
1,500,000  drach. 


This  feeling  of  patriotism  is  especially  evident  when  the 
Greek  is  in  a foreign  land.  Find  him  there  and  tell  him 
that  you  have  been  in  his  country  and  his  heart  swells  with 
a genuine  emotion.  “Did  you  go  to  Athens  ?”  is  the 
almost  invariable  query.  “Isn’t  it  a beautiful  city.?  And 
the  palace  there.?  ” The  tie  between  the  absent  Greek  and 
his  home  village  is  always  a very  close  one. 

Life  in  Greece  is  essentially  an  outdoor  life.  It  does  not 
take  the  form  of  athletics  to  nearly  the  same  extent  as  in 
England  or  America.  The  Greek  youths  have  few  out- 
door games,  aside  from  marbles,  kites  and  the  like.  But 
the  Greek  loves  to  sit  out  in  the  open  air.  In  fine  weather 
the  public  squares  of  the  cities  are  closely  dotted  with 
tables,  belonging  to  the  neighboring  coffee-houses.  One 
of  the  most  charming  features  of  Greek  social  life  is  the 
Trepi^oXia  or  coffee-gardens,  where  one  may  sit  and  sip  the 
fragrant  beverage  or  munch  a sweetmeat,  surrounded  by 
orange  and  lemon  trees,  with  his  ears  filled  with  the  sound 
of  the  clear  water  running  in  the  irrigating  ditches  on 

* Reports  of  Consul-General  George  W.  Horton,  Athens. 

t Drach.  or  dr.,  the  drachma,  equivalent  to  about  $.19  American. 


36 


TYPICAL  DWELLINGS 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


every  hand.  The  Greek  is  very  fond  of  sweetmeats  and 
knows  how  to  make  them  in  a variety  of  delicious  forms. 

Unless  his  temper  is  aroused  the  Greek  is  generally 
light-hearted,  buoyant  and  good-natured.  He  has  a fine 
sense  of  humor  in  spite  of  some  extraordinary  statements 
to  the  contrary  made  by  travelers.*  His  humor  is  not 
always  of  the  daintiest  but  it  has  a flavor  of  its  own  which 
is  quite  distinctive.  The  following  anecdote  serves  as  a 
very  good  illustration.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
every  male  Greek  wears  a mustache,  and  the  first  evidences 
of  down  on  the  lip  (which  comes  quite  early)  are  welcomed 
by  the  Greek  boy  as  a sign  of  approaching  manhood.  A 
clean-shaven  American  traveler  of  about  thirty  was  having 
his  shoes  shined  by  a clever  little  bootblack  in  Athens,  in 
the  meanwhile  good-naturedly  chaffing  him  and  a grizzled 
laborer  who  stood  near.  The  conversation  turned  to  the 
subject  of  weather  and  the  laborer  asked,  “Do  you  have 
as  cold  weather  as  this  in  America.?  ” “Oh,  yes,  much 
colder,”  replied  the  stranger.  Whereupon  the  bootblack 
added,  “In  American  it  is  so  cold  that  it  freezes  your 
mustache,  isn’t  it?  and  that  is  why  you  shave  it  off*.” 

One  point  on  which  practically  all  travelers  agree  is  the 
marked  temperance  of  the  Greeks,  and  this  is  indeed  one 
of  their  most  commendable  characteristics.  Of  course  the 
drinking  of  light  wines  is  a universal  practice,  and  the 
use  of  beer  is  becoming  more  and  more  common.  But 
these  beverages  are  seldom  taken  in  excess,  and  the 
stronger  liquors  are  rarely  used  except  in  the  artificial 
societies  of  the  cities.  Drunkenness  occasionally  occurs, 

* Mr.  Mahaffy  (Monasteries  and  Religion  in  Greece,  Chautauquan, 
9:1)  speaks  of  the  curious  solemnity  and  seriousness  of  the  nation. 
“You  wiU  not  hear  a joke  in  a generation  in  Greece.” 


37 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


to  be  sure,  but  it  is  sporadic,  not  habitual.  During  a five- 
weeks’  trip  through  the  Greek  mainland  I recall  seeing 
only  two  men  who  gave  evidence  of  being  intoxicated. 

Another  matter  upon  which  there  is  remarkable  una- 
nimity among  observers  is  the  social  purity  of  the  Greek 
people.  It  Is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  there  is  some 
exaggeration  about  these  statements.  The  matter  of  the 
sexual  morality  of  a race  is  naturally  one  of  the  most 
difficult  things  to  determine.  Statistical  proof  of  any 
proposition  is  almost  impossible  to  obtain.  The  inves- 
tigator is  forced  to  rely  on  the  personal  opinions  of  those 
who  are  intimately  familiar  with  the  people  in  question, 
supplemented  by  such  observations  as  he  may  be  able  to 
carry  out.  The  following  sketch  of  the  moral  conditions 
of  the  Greek  people  is  based  on  such  grounds.  Certain 
informants  to  whose  opinions  especial  weight  has  been 
given  are  Protestant  Greeks,  whose  separation  from  the 
orthodox  religion  enables  them  to  look  upon  their  race 
with  a degree  of  impartiality,  and  yet  whose  patriotism 
will  prevent  them  from  being  unjust  to  their  countrymen, 
and  whose  character  makes  their  statements  worthy  of 
every  confidence. 

In  the  interior  and  rural  districts  it  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  the  moral  status  is  far  from  bad.  Greek  women  are 
guarded  very  carefully  by  the  male  members  of  their 
families,  and  if  a girl  is  wronged,  her  father,  brother,  or 
other  male  relative  immediately  takes  up  the  issue,  and  it 
is  an  understood  thing  that  the  betrayer  shall  either  be 
compelled  to  marry  the  girl,  or  be  killed.  Consequently 
there  is  no  great  amount  of  actual  immorality  between 
the  sexes,  though  of  course  intrigues  are  not  unknown. 
On  the  other  hand  the  mental  attitude  of  the  men  toward 


38 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


these  matters  is  not  always  elevated,  and  their  passions 
find  frequent  expression  in  such  vices  as  sodomy. 

When  we  turn  to  the  large  cities,  however,  we  find  a 
much  less  encouraging  state  of  affairs.  In  Athens  and 
Patras  the  conditions  are  said  to  be  exceedingly  deplor- 
able. This  state  of  affairs,  especially  in  Athens,  is  largely 
attributed  to  French  influence,  and  in  both  of  the  above- 
named  cities  the  women  of  questionable  character  are 
almost  wholly  foreigners.  In  many  ways  the  moral  tone 
of  fashionable  society  in  these  cities  is  very  low. 

If  we  turn  to  Turkey  we  find  the  conditions  even  worse. 
There  is  the  same  distinction  in  favor  of  the  interior  and 
rural  districts.  But  in  Smyrna  conditions  among  the 
Greeks  could  hardly  be  worse.  The  actual  details  are  too 
revolting  for  discussion,  but  an  idea  of  the  matter  may  be 
gained  from  the  fact  that  a well-known,  able  and  success- 
ful Scotch  doctor  felt  compelled  to  leave  the  city  because, 
apart  from  the  mission  circles,  he  could  not  find  a decent 
social  atmosphere  in  which  to  bring  up  his  family  of  chil- 
dren. Another  indication  is  furnished  by  the  practically 
universal  belief  among  the  young  men  of  the  city  that  no 
boy  can  live  to  grow  up  to  manhood  without  engaging  in 
sexual  indulgence. 

The  greatest  curse  of  Greek  family  life  is  the  wretched 
dowry  system  which  is  saddled  on  the  country,  and  saps  all 
the  romance  out  of  the  marital  relation.  No  young  man 
ever  thinks  of  marrying  a girl  who  is  not  provided  with  a 
satisfactory  dowry,  and  the  marriage  contract  amounts 
practically  to  the  purchase  of  the  bridegroom.  The 
principal  incentive  for  the  industry  of  the  men  of  the 
country  is  to  secure  enough  money  to  make  good  matches 
for  their  daughters  and  sisters.  In  this  respect  the  young 

39 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


men  show  a really  admirable  devotion  to  their  sisters.  It 
is  quite  an  exceptional  thing  for  a Greek  to  think  of  enter- 
ing the  wedded  state  himself  until  all  his  sisters  are  mar- 
ried. The  following  illustration  will  show  how  thoroughly 
this  idea  is  ingrained  in  the  Greek  thought. 

I called  one  day  on  an  officer  of  the  Greek  army,  living 
in  Athens,  to  whom  I had  a letter.  He  was  away  on  duty, 
but  I was  received  by  two  women  of  his  family.  In  the 
course  of  the  conversation,  with  characteristic  curiosity, 
they  asked  concerning  my  family.  Being  informed  that 
I had  no  sisters  they  remarked,  “Ah!  It’s  better  so.” 
“Why  is  that.^”  I inquired.  “Then  you  don’t  have  to 
gather  together  money  to  marry  them  off.” 

In  a marriage  contracted  in  this  way  there  will  nat- 
urally be  little  of  mutual  affection  and  regard,  at  least  to 
start  with.  In  the  way  of  comradeship  and  true  com- 
munion the  Greek  bridegroom  expects  little  and  so  is  not 
disappointed.  The  wife  looks  after  the  household  and 
bears  the  children,  usually  a goodly  number,  and  is  not 
expected  to  enter  particularly  into  the  varied  interests 
of  her  husband.  This  explains  the  readiness  with  which 
a Greek  will  leave  his  wife  and  start  out  for  a residence 
of  five  or  ten  years  in  America.  There  is  very  little  social 
companionship  among  the  young  people  of  different  sexes. 

Greece  has  a well-developed  educational  system.  There 
are  four  grades  of  schools : the  common,  four  years 
(sometimes  six  years,  in  which  case  the  graduate  is  excused 
from  the  first  two  years  of  the  following  grade)  ; Hellenic 
schools,  three  years ; gymnasia,  four  years ; university, 
four  years.  Upon  the  completion  of  the  university  course 
the  student  is  a candidate  for  the  doctor’s  degree.  Educa- 
tion is  free  and  compulsory  in  the  common  schools.  In 


40 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 


the  following  grades  the  yearly  tuition  is  respectively, 
ten  drachmas,  twenty  drachmas  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  drachmas.  By  law,  parents  are  held  responsible 
for  the  attendance  of  their  boys  and  girls  at  the  common 
schools,  subject  to  a fine,  but  as  my  informant,  the  libra- 
rian of  the  Council,  remarked,  “The  law  is  not  always 
applied.”  Women  have  now  begun  to  enter  the  univer- 
sity. These  schools  are  all  supported  at  public  expense, 
the  common  schools  by  the  municipalities,  the  others  by 
the  royal  government.  Every  village  is  supposed  to  have 
at  least  its  common  school,  and  the  Greeks  are  on  the  whole 
a well-educated  people.  In  fact,  in  some  respects  they 
are  sadly  over-educated.  There  are  more  doctors  and 
lawyers  than  the  diminutive  country  knows  what  to  do  with. 


41 


CHAPTER  III 


Religion  and  Language 

r I "THROUGHOUT  the  whole  checkered  history  of  the 
Greek  race  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era 
to  the  War  of  Independence  there  have  been  two  great 
unifying  factors,  without  which  the  nation  would  probably 
have  been  dispersed  and  absorbed  long  ago.  These  are 
the  national  religion  and  the  national  language. 

The  Greek  church  has  a more  authentic  and  unbroken 
history  than  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  It  was  well 
established  in  the  Levant  at  the  time  of  the  Council  of 
Nice,  and  the  Roman  church  had  used  the  Greek  language 
and  been  subservient  to  the  Greek  church.  After  the 
death  of  Constantine,  the  city  which  he  had  founded 
became  the  recognized  head  of  the  Christian  church,  and 
in  the  reign  of  Justinian,  magnificent  and  costly  churches 
were  erected  all  over  Constantinople.  The  chief  of  these 
was  St.  Sophia,  dedicated  Christmas  day,  538.  For  the 
next  six  centuries  Constantinople  successfully  resisted  the 
attacks  of  the  Mohammedan  Saracens.  During  this 
period  the  separation  of  the  eastern  and  western  churches 
took  place.  The  Roman  popes  laid  claim  to  a direct  apos- 
tolic succession  from  St.  Peter.  The  power  of  Rome  grew 
with  the  destruction  of  the  leading  eastern  churches  by 
the  Saracens.  It  altered  the  Nicene  creed,  and  forbade 
the  priests  to  marry.  “Its  abject  worship  of  images  and 
the  host,  its  ignorance,  its  dependence  on  the  western 
barbarians,  its  pretension  to  a place  above  all  the  other 
patriarchates  in  honor  and  power,  naturally  excited  the 


42 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


disapprobation  and  fear  of  its  eastern  brethren;  and  at 
length  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  Jerusalem  and  Constanti- 
nople, united  in  displacing  forever  from  his  place  in  the 
Christian  church  the  heretical  and  ambitious  Bishop  of 
Rome.”*  The  final  separation  took  place  in  lOSIi. 

During  the  succeeding  years  when  the  territory  of  the 
eastern  church  was  devastated  by  the  Turks,  the  power 
of  Rome  increased  still  more.  In  fact,  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  eastern  branch  of  the  church  would  have  survived  that 
dark  period  if  that  form  of  Christianity  had  not  been 
adopted  by  Russia,  whose  career  as  a Christian  nation 
dates  from  the  year  1000.  Her  rulers  were  converted  by 
pageantry  and  diplomacy  as  much  as  by  convincing  argu- 
ments. She  copied  closely  the  Greek  ritual  and  church 
buildings.  In  1687  Moscow  took  the  place  of  Rome  in 
the  eyes  of  the  eastern  church  as  the  fifth  patriarchate. 
In  the  long  and  bloody  conflict  with  the  Romish  Jesuits 
the  Russian  church  finally  prevailed,  and  preserved  a form 
of  religion  which  the  Greek  nation  recognized  and  claimed 
as  its  own  when  its  independence  was  established. 

The  Greek  church  is  the  only  one  which  has  consistently 
followed  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Nice.  The  worship 
of  the  Virgin  Mary  is  not  predominant,  and  its  clergy  are 
married,  though  its  monks  are  not.  In  doctrine  the  Greek 
church  differs  somewhat  from  the  Roman.  It  accepts  the 
Holy  Trinity,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  is  assumed  to  proceed 
from  the  Father  onlj'.  The  doctrine  of  redemption  is 
Scriptural.  There  must  be  works  with  faith.  There  are 
no  indulgences,  and  no  purgatory,  but  an  “intermediate 
state  of  the  departed”  in  which  they  remain  until  the 

* The  Greek  Church,  Eugene  Lawrence,  Harper’s  Monthly,  45:405, 
from  which  much  of  this  historical  review  is  taken. 


43 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


resurrection.  Its  ritual  approaches  that  of  Rome.  The 
sacraments  are  Marriage,  Confirmation,  Extreme  Unc- 
tion, Ordination,  Penance,  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s 
Supper.  Infants  are  baptized  on  the  eighth  day  by  trine 
immersion.  It  holds  to  transubstantiation,  but  the  host 
does  not  receive  the  same  adoration  as  in  the  Roman 
church.  Penance,  auricular  confession  and  absolution 
are  regarded  as  very  fundamental.  The  priest  must  know 
what  he  is  absolving. 

The  ritual  is  even  more  laborious  than  the  Roman. 
There  are  many  fasts,  the  principal  ones  being  Lent,  from 
Whitsuntide  to  St.  Peter’s  day,  from  the  6th  to  the 
15th  of  August,  and  forty  days  before  Christmas.  The 
monasteries  have  others.  The  regulations  concerning 
these  fasts  are  rather  complicated.  In  the  main  they 
involve  the  giving  up  of  meat,  and  of  fish  except  on  certain 
days.  No  olive  oil  is  to  be  used  in  cooking.  These  fasts 
are  observed  with  a good  deal  of  strictness  and  work  con- 
siderable hardship  on  the  people  of  moderate  means.  But 
the  well-to-do  have  many  means  of  avoiding  any  dis- 
comfort. Instead  of  olive  oil,  sesame  oil  is  used  in  cook- 
ing, and  caviar,  shell-fish,  etc.,  take  the  place  of  meat.  In 
fact,  in  many  cases,  the  fast  food  is  more  tasteful  and 
pleasing  than  the  regular  diet.  If  a Greek  is  questioned 
in  regard  to  the  importance  of  fasting,  he  is  likely  to  say, 
“Oh,  it  is  very  healthy  to  clean  out  your  system  by  leaving 
off  meat  once  in  a while,”  and  however  faulty  the  argument 
may  be  from  a theological  point  of  view,  there  is  a good 
deal  of  truth  in  it,  for  the  wealthy  Greeks  eat  altogether 
too  much  meat  regularly. 

One  of  the  chief  points  of  difference  between  the  eastern 
and  the  western  churches  was  in  the  matter  of  images. 


44 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


The  Greek  branch  maintained  that  the  worship  of  statues 
or  images  was  idolatry.  But  they  substituted  pictures 
for  the  images,  and  pictures  (eikons)  still  hold  a very 
important  place  in  the  worship  of  the  Greek  church. 
These  are  representations  of  various  saints,  and  the 
common  justification  for  their  use  is  that  the  contempla- 
tion of  them  calls  up  the  worthy  lives  of  those  whom  they 
represent,  and  leads  to  emulation  of  their  good  qualities. 
The  pictures  are  often  executed  in  silver,  in  high  relief, 
but  the  faces  and  often  the  hands  are  made  flat,  which 
keeps  them  from  being  images. 

Church  buildings  are  exceedingly  numerous  in  Greece. 
They  are  of  all  sizes  and  are  scattered  in  all  sorts  of 
places,  from  the  largest  cities  to  some  out-of-the-way  nook 
of  country,  where  there  is  perhaps  no  other  building  in 
sight.  The  modern  Orthodox  Greek  church  building  is 
usually  patterned  on  the  Byzantine  type  of  architecture. 
The  interior  decoration  differs  in  elaborateness  with  the 
importance  of  the  church  and  the  wealth  of  the  congrega- 
tion, but  an  important  feature  is  always  the  pictures. 
Regular  services  are  held  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  but 
the  churches  are  usually  kept  open  on  week  days  for  the 
devotions  of  individuals.  The  regular  service  consists 
largely  in  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  while  the  wor- 
shipers come  in  and  remain  as  long  as  they  feel  moved  to, 
passing  around  the  church,  kissing  the  pictures  and 
making  the  sign  of  the  cross.  The  services  are  read  in 
the  ancient  language  and  in  an  indistinct,  singsong  tone, 
so  that  the  people  get  absolutely  no  meaning  out  of  the 
reading.  The  priests  discourage  and  prevent,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  circulation  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
as  a result  the  great  mass  of  the  common  people  are 


45 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


extremely  ignorant  as  to  the  real  truths  and  teachings  of 
the  Christian  doctrine. 

Nevertheless,  to  the  form  of  his  religion  the  Greek  is 
decidedly  loyal.  A Greek  is  born  to  his  religion  just  as 
he  is  to  his  nationality.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  one  who 
would  not  profess  to  be  a Christian.  Church  services  are 
quite  well  attended  and  when  a Greek  passes  an  isolated 
chapel  he  very  often  enters  and  remains  a moment,  paying 
his  respects  to  the  pictures  contained  therein.  The  sign 
of  the  cross  is  habitually  made  before  eating  and  on  pass- 
ing a church  or  chapel.  The  houses  of  devout  Greeks 
each  contain  a sacred  picture  with  an  olive  oil  lamp  always 
burning  in  front  of  it.  The  Greek  insists  positively  on 
the  truth  of  his  form  of  faith,  and  will  defend  stoutly 
dogmas  which  he  does  not  in  the  least  comprehend.  Un- 
fortunately, as  would  be  expected  under  such  conditions, 
there  is  very  slight  connection  between  religion  and 
morality,  or  ethical  living.  A man  may  be  a very  good 
Christian,  and  a very  bad  man — bad,  at  least,  according 
to  the  views  of  an  outsider.  When  the  form  of  religion 
has  been  observed,  a man  is  free  to  go  out  and  do  much 
as  he  pleases,  to  lie,  cheat  and  oppress  to  his  heart’s 
content.  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  in  the  article  above 
referred  to  (see  page  25)  says  that  while  patriotism  keeps 
the  Greek  loyal  to  his  church,  “her  teachings  are  practi- 
cally of  slight  importance  to  him.”  There  is  a good  deal 
of  superstition  still  existent  in  the  Greek  church,  much  of 
it  connected  with  the  ancient  pagan  religions.*  A great 
deal  of  religious  importance  attaches  to  certain  places  and 

* A very  interesting  account  of  this  matter  may  be  found  in  an 
article  by  P.  d’Estournelles,  entitled,  “The  Superstitions  of  Modern 
Greece,”  in  the  Century  Magazine,  11:586. 


46 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


days.  Nearly  every  day  Ib  the  calendar  is  some  saint’s 
day,  and  the  observance  of  it  depends  on  the  importance 
of  the  saint,  or  the  number  of  people  who  are  named  after 
him.  The  “name-day”  is  customarily  observed  instead  of 
the  birthday.  On  the  Galata  bridge  in  Constantinople 
there  used  to  be  an  old  Jewish  guide  whose  invariable 
greeting  as  he  walked  up  behind  the  stranger  was : “Good 
morning,  sir.  This  is  a fine  day,  sir.  This  is  a Greek 
holiday,  sir.”  He  was  fairly  safe  in  the  statement. 

Much  has  been  written  on  both  sides  in  regard  to  the 
character  of  the  Greek  clergy.  In  point  of  fact,  the 
character  of  the  priesthood  varies  with  the  character  of 
the  individual  priest.  There  is  but  little  check  on  them. 
Many  of  them  accordingly  are  earnest,  upright  and 
sincere.  Some  of  them  are  lazy,  hypocritical  and  vicious. 

One  of  the  most  scathing  attacks  ever  made  on  the 
Greek  church,  as  well  as  on  numerous  other  phases  of 
Greek  life  and  society,  is  found  in  a book  in  modern  Greek 
from  the  pen  of  Andrew  Lascaris,  called  “The  Mysteries 
of  Cephalonia.”  A review  of  this  book  may  be  found  in 
the  Westminster  Review,  67 : 228.  It  was  published  some 
time  ago  (1856)  so  that  there  has  at  least  been  room  for 
improvement  since.  The  author  says  that  the  Orthodox 
churchmen  have  three  kinds  of  religious  services  (quoting 
from  the  Review)  ; “One  which  they  profess  and  do  not 
perform ; one  which  they  perform  and  do  not  profess ; and 
one  which  they  both  profess  and  perform.  The  first  is 
the  service  of  Christ,  the  second  that  of  the  devil,  and  the 
third  that  of  the  belly.”  There  is  much  more  of  the  same 
tenor  which  need  not  be  quoted.  The  author  was  himself 
a native  of  the  island  in  question,  which  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  as  a result  of  the  publication  of  his  book.  The 


47 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


only  answer,  however,  to  his  charges  was  from  high  church 
authority  and  consisted  in  abuse  and  anathema  rather 
than  in  argument. 

The  monasteries  are  an  important  feature  in  the  modern 
Greek  religion.  There  are  several  very  ancient  and 
famous  ones,  prominent  among  them  the  one  at  Meteora. 
This  is  situated  on  a rock  over  300  feet  high  and  the 
only  way  to  reach  it  is  to  be  pulled  up  by  a rope  and  net. 
But  there  are  a large  number  of  minor  ones  scattered  all 
through  the  kingdom.  The  denizens,  who  are  of  two 
classes,  monks  and  lay  brethren,  spend  their  time  in  reli- 
gious exercises,  and  in  tilling  the  soil  and  tending  the  herds. 
There  is  always  a chapel  in  connection,  in  which  services 
are  held,  and  the  monks  frequently  go  out  and  hold  services 
in  neighboring  churches.  Boys  are  devoted  to  a monastic 
life  by  their  parents,  and  commence  their  training  in  early 
life. 

Another  characteristic  feature  of  this  form  of  Chris- 
tianity is  the  religious  festivals  or  iravrfyvpva.  These  are 
held  in  certain  places  on  certain  specified  days.  The 
people  gather  early  in  the  morning,  and  a religious  ser- 
vice is  held.  The  most  obvious  part  of  this  consists  in 
passing  a contribution  plate  and  sprinkling  the  donors 
with  holy  water  from  a small  bottle,  resembling  those 
used  by  barbers.  This  ceremony  is  soon  over  and  the  rest 
of  the  day  is  given  up  to  enjoyment,  singing,  dancing 
and  drinking.  These  pursuits  frequently  become  very 
boisterous  and  revolvers  shot  into  the  air  add  zest  to  the 
revelry.  On  one  occasion  I saw  the  priest  himself  enter 
fully  into  the  spirit  of  the  day,  singing,  drinking  and 
shooting  off  revolvers.  By  night  he  was  so  drunk  that  it 
took  four  men  to  get  him  home.  The  people  seemed  just 


48 


MONK  AND  ACOLYTE 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


a trifle  disturbed,  but  remarked:  “Never  mind.  Just  once 
a year.  What  harm  does  it  do.^” 

One  of  the  prettiest  of  these  festivals  is  that  held  at 
Megara  on  the  flrst  Tuesday  after  Easter.  Early  in  the 
morning  the  people  gather  from  the  villages  all  around, 
attired  in  their  holiday  costumes,  the  men  in  short,  heavily 
pleated  white  kilts,  the  girls  in  brightly  colored  dresses 
with  embroidered  aprons  and  their  dowries  in  the  form 
of  coins  sewed  into  caps  on  their  foreheads,  or  hung 
around  their  necks.  The  main  dance  of  the  occasion  is 
performed  by  the  girls.  It  is  called  the  “trata”  and  is 
supposed  to  represent  the  movement  of  drawing  in  the  nets 
at  the  seashore.  Other  groups,  sometimes  containing  both 
men  and  women,  perform  the  customary  folk  dances. 

Easter  is  a very  important  season  with  the  Greeks. 
Another  beautiful  celebration  held  in  connection  with  it 
is  that  observed  in  Athens  on  the  eve  of  Easter  Sunday, 
at  the  Metropolitan  Church.  By  twelve  o’clock  the  square 
in  front  of  the  church  and  the  streets  leading  into  it  for 
some  distance  are  packed  with  people.  Each  holds  in  his 
hand  an  unlighted  candle  and  awaits  the  coming  of  the 
priest.  At  midnight  he  appears  bearing  in  his  hand  a 
lighted  candle.  Those  nearest  him  light  their  candles 
from  his  and  pass  the  flame  on  to  others,  until  in  an  incred- 
ibly short  time  the  whole  square  is  blazing  as  it  were  with 
a myriad  of  tiny  stars.  Then  the  assembly  breaks  up,  and 
the  people  go  home,  singing  “Kyrie  Eleison,”  and  express- 
ing their  joy  in  more  noisy  ways  by  means  of  revolvers 
and  firecrackers. 

Summing  up  the  modern  Greek  religion,  then,  it  may  be 
said  that  it  consists  mainly  in  formalism.  Many  of  the 
clergy  and  the  great  mass  of  the  common  people  are 


49 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


densely  ignorant  concerning  the  true  nature  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ.  There  is  but  slight  connection  between 
religion  and  everyday  life.  Nevertheless,  on  account  of 
the  national  character  of  the  rehgion  the  Greeks  are  very 
loyal  to  it,  and  it  forms  an  important  part  of  the  consti- 
tution of  every  Greek  community. 

The  second  of  the  great  unifying  factors  mentioned 
above  is  the  language.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this 
has  been  of  great  value  in  keeping  up  race  feehng,  and 
hence  race  continuity,  among  the  Greeks  scattered  all 
through  the  east  Mediterranean  countries.  But  many 
writers  have  gone  further  and  have  taken  the  similarity 
of  the  ancient  and  modern  languages  as  a proof  of  the 
physical  identity  of  race  between  the  ancient  and  modern 
peoples.  The  erroneous  nature  of  this  sort  of  reasoning 
becomes  very  evident  on  the  careful  study  of  such  a book 
as  Ripley’s  Races  of  Europe.  As  demonstrated  in  this 
work,  a language  may  remain  but  slightly  changed,  while 
the  racial  stock  of  the  people  which  uses  it  is  gradually 
but  completely  altered.  This  very  process  may  be  seen 
going  on  in  the  United  States.  In  spite  of  all  the  change 
which  has  come  in  the  ethnic  constitution  of  the  American 
people,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a single  important  change 
in  the  Enghsh  language  as  spoken  in  the  United  States 
which  is  due  to  the  admixture  of  foreign  blood.  This 
is  because  the  infiltration  of  alien  elements  has  been 
gradual.  Of  course  there  are  sections  of  the  country, 
like  the  “Dutch”  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  where  large 
groups  of  foreign  people,  living  in  comparative  isolation, 
speak  a modified  English,  or  a mixture  of  English  and 
some  other  language.  And  if  such  a city  as  New  York, 
which  contains  large  colonies  of  various  foreign  peoples 


50 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


where  English  is  almost  unheard,  were  to  be  shut  off  from 
communication  with  the  rest  of  the  United  States  and  at 
the  same  time  was  allowed  to  receive  the  same  foreign  con- 
tingents year  by  year,  it  would  be  hard  to  guess  what  sort 
of  a language  would  eventually  result.  But  if  a gradual 
immigration  from  various  foreign  lands  were  to  continue 
for  a few  generations,  the  immigrants  being  slowly  and 
evenly  diffused  throughout  the  whole  country,  until  the 
Anglo-Saxon  blood  of  the  American  people  should  become 
as  a drop  in  the  bucket,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  any 
appreciable  alteration  in  the  English  language  would  be 
produced  thereby. 

There  is  still  another  possible  case — when  a conquering 
nation  holds  dominion  over  another.  Then  we  may  expect 
to  find  many  words  transferred  from  one  language  to  the 
other  in  both  directions.  In  the  case  of  Greek,  the  danger 
of  using  language  as  a test  of  race  is  increased  by  the  fact 
that  within  recent  years  a strong  effort  has  been  made  to 
bring  the  modern  language  artificially  into  closer  con- 
formity with  the  ancient. 

In  point  of  fact  it  is  hardly  correct  to  speak  of  a 
modern  Greek  language,  for  there  are  two  grades  of 
modern  Greek,  so  distinct  as  almost  to  be  called  separate 
languages.  For  convenience  sake  they  may  be  distin- 
guished as  “high  Greek”  and  “low  Greek.”  The  former 
is  essentially  the  written  language,  the  latter  the  spoken 
language.  Most  writers  on  modern  Greece  ignore  this 
point  almost  completely.  Mr.  John  Stuart  Blackie, 
writing  in  Blackwood’s  Magazine,  speaks  of  the  two 
grades,  but  he  makes  the  distinction  not  so  much  that 
between  a written  and  a spoken  language,  as  between  the 
language  of  education  and  culture,  and  that  of  unedu- 


51 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


cation  and  ignorance.  As  will  develop  later,  this  does 
not  exactly  hit  the  point. 

In  the  writings  of  modern  travelers  we  frequently  find 
such  sentences  as  the  following:  “The  student  of  ancient 
Greek  finds  no  great  difficulty  in  reading  a modern  Greek 
newspaper.”  This  is  not  wholly  untrue.  But  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  fact  that  the  uneducated  Greek  peasant  has 
great  difficulty  in  understanding  the  newspaper  when  it 
is  read  to  him.  A missionary  in  Smyrna,  to  whom  Greek 
is  as  much  her  native  language  as  English,  read  some 
passages  from  the  modern  Greek  New  Testament  to 
her  kitchen  maid — a very  intelligent,  though  uneducated 
girl — but  she  was  not  able  to  understand  them.  An  expe- 
rience of  my  own  well  illustrates  this  point.  While  taking 
a short  trip  in  a sailboat,  I said  to  the  boatman  one  day, 
“Ad/Je  Tov  ttlXov  fiov  (take  my  hat),”  and  he  looked  at  me  in 
blank  incomprehension.  I repeated  my  remark  in  low 
Greek,  “ irapt  to  KawiXXo  fiov  ” and  he  understood  at  once. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  there  are  two  distinct 
sets  of  people,  one  speaking  one  grade  of  the  language 
and  the  other  the  other.  High  Greek  is  the  vehicle  of 
expression  of  literature,  oratory,  etc.  Low'  Greek  is  the 
language  of  conversation.  Educated  people  of  course 
are  familiar  with  both,  but  nobody  tliinks  of  talking  the 
kind  of  language  he  reads  in  the  newspapers,  unless  he 
is  striving  for  effect.  This  difference  is  not  merely  one 
in  nicety  of  expression,  or  choice  of  idiom,  or  correctness 
of  grammar.  It  is  all  this,  but  it  is  more.  All  through 
the  language  there  is  a difference  of  words,  even  for  the 
simplest  of  meanings.  One  will  be  high  Greek,  the  other 
low.  The  meaning  will  be  identical.  It  is  almost  super- 
fluous to  remark  that  the  high  Greek  approximates  most 


52 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


closely  the  ancient  language.  The  following  list  of  words 
is  typical. 


High  Gkeek 

Low  Gkeek  English  Eguivalent 

iTTiXavdavo/xaL,  XrjfrfjiOvSi 

e/c^avo) 

forget 

apTOS 

{l/(t)p,C 

bread 

v8u)p 

vepo  (v) 

water 

Ka6i<Tp,a 

KaOeKXa,  Kap€KXa. 

chair 

ttTXos 

KaTTsXXo  (v) 

hat 

Ix0v9 

oxpapMv,  xf/dpt 

fish 

6(f>6aXp.o<; 

p-dri 

eye 

CTTTTOS 

dXoyo  (v) 

horse 

ovTa>s 

it 

€TO’L 

so 

j8ovg 

dyeXdSa 

cow 

KVUiV 

cr/cvAos 

dog 

TLO-qp-l 

(idXXo) 

put 

tvvoS),  KaTaXa/AjSavu) 

KaraXa/Bu) 

understand 

(TeX'^vr) 

(f>eyydpL 

moon 

epyov,  epyacna 

SovXetd 

work 

These  words  have 

been  chosen  with 

care  that  there 

should  not  be  the  slightest  difference  in  significance 
beween  the  terms.  It  will  be  observed  that  some  of  the 
low  words  are  corruptions  of  high  words,  but  more  come 
from  an  entirely  different  root,  and  show  no  connection. 
This  list  might  be  extended  almost  indefinitely,  but  the 
examples  will  suffice.  This  reduplication  of  words  nat- 
urally applies  mainly  to  words  expressing  some  common, 
everyday  idea.  In  the  case  of  the  more  unusual,  abstruse 
or  refined  conceptions,  which  are  used  exclusively  by  people 
of  some  education  or  culture,  the  same  distinction  does  not 
exist. 

These  two  grades,  of  course,  frequently  overlap  both  in 
writing  and  conversation.  There  are  extensions  in  both 
directions.  In  looking  up  words  in  the  dictionary  one  finds 


53 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


some  of  a highly  classical  flavor,  which  he  might  search 
long  to  find  in  daily  use,  though  their  more  vulgar  equiva- 
lents may  be  of  very  frequent  occuri-ence.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  very  uncultured  and  ignorant  use  a degraded  language 
sufficiently  distinct  as  almost  to  be  classed  as  a third  grade. 
But  in  this  respect,  Greek  is  not  wholly  different  from  other 
languages.  Perhaps  no  word  better  illusti’ates  the  variety 
of  elegance  in  the  expression  of  a common  idea  than  the 
word  for  donkey.  The  good  word  is  “ovos,”  the  vulgar 
word  is  “yaSepos”  or  “ya'iSepos.”  But  in  common  use  this  is 
changed  to  ‘ ‘ yai'Sovpt,”  and  as  like  as  not  the  peasant  will  hitch 
on  his  favorite  diminutive  ending  and  call  it  “ yaiSovpdKt.  ” 
Another  good  example  is  the  word  for  steamboat.  The  high 
word  is  “ arpoTrAoDv  ” or  more  commonly  “ dTp.d7rXeiov.  ” But 
the  word  almost  universally  used  in  conversation,  so  low  that 
it  frequently  is  not  given  in  the  dictionaries,  comes  from 
the  French  “vapeur”  or  Italian  “vapore,  ” and  is  “ySairdpt.  ” 
In  many  sections  this  is  further  corrupted  and  becomes 
“TTopTrdpt.”  In  conversation  with  an  intelligent  Greek  this 
matter  came  up,  and  he  took  a piece  of  paper  from  his 
pocket  and,  with  only  a moment’s  reflection,  wrote  down 
ten  equivalents  for  the  word  “stone,”  and  seven  for  the 
phrase  ‘ ‘he  went.  ’ ’ In  this  case,  however,  there  would 
probably  be  some  slight  distinction  in  meaning  between 
some  of  the  words.  Even  to  so  common  a word  as  the 
indefinite  article  “a”  or  “an,”  this  distinction  extends. 
This  in  Greek  is  the  word  “one”  and  is  properly  declined, 
“els,  p.Mi,  ev,”  and  so  one  finds  it  in  the  books  and  news- 
papers. But  no  one  ever  thinks  of  using  it  so  in  conver- 
sation ; there  it  is  declined,  “Iras  or  Ivos,  p.ta,  Ira. ” But  this 
is  really  a matter  of  grammar,  and  brings  us  to  the  con- 
sideration of  that  topic. 


54 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


The  grammar  of  the  modern  Greek  language  is  theo- 
retically very  similar  to  the  ancient,  though  some  super- 
fluities such  as  the  dual  number  have  been  dropped,  and 
the  genitive  case  very  largely  takes  the  place  of  the  dative. 
In  writing,  the  rules  of  grammar  are  adhered  to  with 
considerable  fidelity,  but  in  conversation  Greek  suffers  the 
changes  that  every  highly  inflected  language  is  liable  to. 
There  is  a constant  tendency  to  reduce  the  inflection  of 
both  verbs  and  nouns.  Unnecessary  inflectional  termina- 
tions are  dropped.  Every  possible  noun  is  put  into  the 
neuter  and  is  made  to  end  in  “o”  or  “i.”  Only  three 
cases,  the  nominative,  genitive  and  accusative,  are  used, 
and  in  the  neuter  the  first  and  last  of  these  are  the  same. 
Agreement  between  an  adjective  and  a noun,  and  other 
fine  points  of  grammar  are  carelessly  treated,  and  the 
constant  tendency  is  to  reduce  the  language  to  a less 
cumbersome,  more  convenient  means  of  expression.  In 
some  ways  the  efforts  of  the  scholars  to  force  the  language 
back  into  its  classical  form  are  commendable.  Yet  it  is 
very  questionable  whether  it  is  wise  to  try  to  stem  the 
current  of  natural  development,  and  it  seems  highly  prob- 
able that  the  result  will  be,  instead  of  purifying  the  every- 
day language  of  the  people,  merely  to  make  the  resources 
of  modern  Greek  literature  comparatively  unavailable  to 
the  lower  classes. 

The  pronunciation  of  modern  Greek  differs  considei’ably 
from  the  Erasmian  pronunciation  which  is  taught  in  the 
American  schools,  and  which  arouses  the  extreme  ridicule 
of  modem  Greeks.  The  greatest  variation  is  in  the  vowel 
sounds.  “a”  has  but  one  sound,  corresponding  to  the 
English  “a.”*  “e”  and  “«”are  pronounced  “e.” 

~»'as  in  “father.” 


55 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


“i,”  “r,”and  the  dipthongs  “et”and  “oi”  all  have  the 
same  sound,  the  English  long  “e,  ” the  commonest  vowel 
sound  in  the  Greek  language.  “o”  and  “<o"  both  have 
the  same  sound,  “o,”  while  the  diphthong  “ov”  is  pro- 
nounced like  “ou”  in  “through.”  “ai”  has  the  sound  of 
“ 1 , ” but  is  I'arely  used  except  in  words  of  foreign  derivation. 
Thei’e  are  accordingly  only  about  six  vowel  sounds  in  modern 
Greek,  with  the  result  that  the  language  is  decidedly 
monotonous  to  listen  to.  As  regards  the  consonants,  the 
principal  variations  from  the  Erasmian  system  are  “yS,” 
pronounced  “v”  and  “8”  pronounced  “th.”*  “p”  is  rolled 
and  “y”  and  have  a guttural  quality  for  which  there 

is  no  English  equivalent. 

In  language,  as  in  other  things,  there  are  frequent  local 
peculiarities  in  the  various  portions  of  the  Greek  world. 
For  instance,  the  Cretans  have  quite  a distinct  pronun- 
ciation for  the  letter  “x”  equivalent  to  the  English  “sh.” 
In  general,  the  language  of  Greece  proper  is  “higher” 
than  that  of  Turkey,  wFere  there  is  a greater  admixture 
of  Turkish  and  Italian  words.  The  Greek  pastor  of  one 
of  the  Protestant  churches  in  Turkey,  an  extremely  intelli- 
gent man,  and  a graduate  of  the  University  of  Athens, 
found  difficulty  in  preaching  to  his  people  in  a language 
which  w'ould  be  intelligible  to  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  some  of  the  out-of-the-w'ay  islands,  untouched  by  the 
changes  of  centuries,  there  is  said  to  exist  a language 
strongly  suggestive  in  many  particulars  of  the  classic 
Greek. 

Our  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  language  must  be  that 
while  the  modern  tongue  is  widely  divergent  from  the 
ancient,  there  is  yet  an  unbroken  connection  between  the 
* As  in  “then.” 


56 


RELIGION  AND  LANGUAGE 


two,  and  though  we  are  not  warranted  in  taking  this  as 
a proof  of  the  racial  homogeneity  of  the  ancient  and 
modern  peoples,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  language 
has  rendered  great  service  in  preserving  the  race  feeling, 
and  in  maintaining  the  national  continuity  of  the  people. 


/ 


57 


CHAPTER  IV* 


The  Direct  Causes  of  Emigration 

T N the  preceding  pages  we  have  endeavored  to  give  a 
hasty  portrayal  of  the  life  and  character  of  the 
modern  Greeks,  with  special  reference  to  migration  move- 
ments, and  we  have  seen  that  for  varied  reasons  emigra- 
tion from  Greece  is  no  new  thing.  It  has  been  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Greek  people  from  time  immemorial.  But  in  past 
generations  it  has  been  a gradual,  natural  movement,  a 
draining  off  of  the  surplus  population.  Within  the  last 
fifteen  years,  however,  there  has  sprung  up  a new  emigra- 
tion— the  emigration  to  America — which  is  no  longer  a 
gradual  withdrawal  of  those  who  cannot  find  elbow-room 
in  the  old  country,  nor  a natural  departure  of  the  more 
adventurous  and  enterprising,  to  seek  more  fertile  fields 
of  fortune.  It  is  a radical,  violent  exodus  of  all  the  strong 
young  men,  which  has  already  devastated  whole  villages, 
and  threatens  to  leave  the  entire  kingdom  depleted  of  its 
natural  working  force.  What  is  the  origin  of  this  phe- 
nomenon.? What  are  the  causes  of  this  sudden  and  start- 
ling emigration.? 

It  is  a well-known  principle  of  all  emigration,  that  there 
must  be  some  active  dissatisfaction  or  discomfort  in  the 
home  land  to  cause  large  bodies  of  people  to  leave.  The 
assumption  is  that  the  generality  of  mankind  will  remain 
in  the  land  in  which  they  are  born,  unless  some  strong 
motive  impels  them  to  leave.  The  inertia  of  human  beings 
is  great.  To  induce  people  to  break  the  bonds  of  family 

* This  chapter  was  printed  in  the  Yale  Review  for  August,  1909, 
and  is  reproduced  here  by  permission  of  the  publishers. 


58 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


and  neighborhood  relations,  to  give  up  a known  situation 
for  an  untried  one,  to  turn  their  backs  on  the  home 
country  and  seek  some  far-off  shore,  there  must  in  general 
be  some  national,  local  or  personal  disability  to  over- 
balance the  influences  of  home  attachments.  The  difli- 
culty  may  be  political,  religious,  economic  or  social.  In 
seeking  the  causes  of  the  new  Greek  emigration  we  must 
examine  each  of  these  possible  classes  of  causes,  and  elimi- 
nate any  which  have  no  bearing  on  the  problem  under  dis- 
cussion. For  the  present  purposes  three  of  them  may  be 
dismissed  very  briefly. 

First  of  all,  the  political  condition.  Greece  is  a very 
democratic  country  politically;  and  while  there  is  prob- 
ably too  much  political  agitation,  ambition  and  turmoil 
for  the  good  of  the  country,  there  is  no  true  political 
oppression.  It  w^ould  be  hard  to  find  a case  in  which  the 
political  condition  was  an  active  motive  for  emigration. 
The  terms  of  military  service  are  light.  All  men  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age  are  required  to  render  active  ser- 
vice for  two  years,  but  this  is  usually  done  gladly,  and 
instead  of  finding  Greeks  fleeing  from  home  to  escape  this 
duty,  we  more  often  find  them  returning  from  America  on 
purpose  to  perform  it.  The  insecurity  which  still  prevails 
in  some  sections  is  occasionally  cited  as  a motive  for  emi- 
gration, but  it  is  a factor  of  very  slight  importance.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  religion.  Practically  every  Greek  is 
loyal  to  the  form  and  name,  at  least,  of  the  orthodox 
religion  of  his  country  and  finds  its  service  no  hardship. 
There  are  no  oppressed  religious  sects  or  denominations. 
The  religion  is  a national  one,  and  a Greek  feels  no  more 
uneasiness  in  respect  to  it  than  he  does  toward  his  race. 
It  is  true  that  Protestants  are  not  very  kindly  looked  upon 

59 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


in  Greece,  but  they  are  not  at  all  a numerous  class,  and 
as  for  any  real  persecution,  there  is  none  of  it.  Religion 
cuts  practically  no  figure  as  a motive  for  emigration. 
Nor  does  the  social  aspect  of  the  matter  yield  an  explana- 
tion. While  there  are  social  classes  in  Greece,  they  are 
very  largely  determined  by  wealth,  and  the  social  disabili- 
ties that  any  man  feels  are  largely  the  result  of  economic 
conditions.  There  remains  then  the  economic  situation, 
and  we  may  be  permitted  to  anticipate,  in  so  far  as  to 
say  that  the  causes  of  Greek  emigration  are  practically 
entirely  economic.  This  being  the  case,  a rather  detailed 
examination  into  the  economic  conditions  of  the  country 
must  constitute  the  basis  of  our  inquiry. 

The  population  of  Greece,  according  to  the  last 
three  censuses,  was  as  follows : 1889,  2,187,208 ; 1896, 
2,443,506 ; 1907,  2,631,952.  As  the  area  is  about 
25,000  square  miles,  the  population  per  square  mile  in 
these  years  was  respectively  87,  97  and  105.  This  is  by 
no  means  a dense  population,  and  while  there  are  vast 
expanses  of  mountain  area  where  there  are  very  few  inhab- 
itants, still  even  in  the  more  thickly  settled  districts  the 
people  are  not  sufficiently  crowded  to  justify  us  in  regard- 
ing mere  over-population  as  a cause  of  emigration.  Many 
countries  get  along  very  prosperously  with  a much  denser 
population  than  this. 

Greece  is  today,  as  of  old,  primarily  an  agricultural 
and  pastoral,  and  secondarily  a mercantile  country.  The 
same  mountains  and  seas  still  divide  it  into  a series  of  small 
habitation-districts,  somewhat  less  isolated  than  formerly, 
indeed,  on  account  of  improved  transportation  facilities. 
The  great  majority  of  the  people  still  live  in  small  towns 
and  villages  which  are  self-supporting  and  self-sufficient; 


60 


PEASANT  PLOWING  WITH  WOODEN  PLOW,  MEGALOPOLIS 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


there  are  few  large  cities  in  Greece.*  The  abler  mercan- 
tile spirits  must  still  seek  a foreign  field  for  their  energies. 

Agricultural  methods  and  implements  are  still  very 
primitive  in  Greece.  The  bulk  of  the  cultivating  is  done 
either  by  means  of  heavy  iron  hoes,  wielded  by  hand,  or  by 
rude  wooden  plows  drawn  by  diminutive  oxen.  In  some 
of  the  more  enlightened  districts  steel  plows  are  beginning 
to  be  used  and  horses  are  employed  for  draught  purposes. 
Within  a half-hour’s  walk  of  Athens,  however,  one  will  find 
wooden  plows,  sometimes  with  iron  shafts.  Thus  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  is  very  superficial.  Simple  irrigation 
systems  are  in  very  common  use.  The  harvesting  is  done 
by  hand,  and  the  grain  is  trodden  out  by  ponies  on  a 
circular,  stone-paved  threshing  floor.  In  the  Lake  Copais 
district  in  northern  Greece,  on  the  land  made  available 
for  cultivation  by  the  drainage  of  Lake  Copais,  more  up- 
to-date  methods  are  in  use.  Even  here,  however,  reapers 
and  binders  had  to  be  discarded  on  account  of  the  softness 
of  the  ground,  and  the  old  sickles  or  reaping-hooks 
employed  again.  Steam  threshers  are  still  in  use  in  this 
region. 

The  principal  agricultural  products  of  Greece  are 
currants,  wheat,  olives,  figs,  corn,  hashish,  tobacco  and  a 
variety  of  garden  vegetables.  Currants  are  mainly  ex- 
ported, and  hashish  entirely  (mostly  to  Egypt)  ; the  other 
products  are  largely  consumed  at  home.  It  is  compara- 
tively easy  to  make  a bare  living  in  Greece;  while  the 
arable  plains  and  valleys  are  often  so  stony  as  to  make  a 

* The  population  of  the  principal  cities  in  1907  was  as  follows ; 
Athens,  167,479;  Piraeus,  67,982;  Patras,  37,401;  Corfu,  27,397;  Volo, 
23,319;  Hermopolis  (Syra),  17,773;  Trikala,  17,809;  Zante,  13,501; 
Calamata,  13,123;  Pyrgos,  13,690;  Tripolis,  10,787;  Laurion,  10,007. 
From  Consular  Reports,  Mr.  Nathan,  Patras. 


61 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


peasant  open  his  eyes  in  incredulous  wonder  when  he  hears 
of  farms  where  a man  can  plow  all  day  without  striking 
a single  pebble,  they  are  nevertheless  fertile,  and  even 
under  inadequate  cultivation  yield  a fair  return.  The 
rocky  hillsides  support  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  which 
furnish  wool  for  clothing  material,  and  milk,  butter  and 
cheese  for  food.  The  necessities  of  life  therefore  are  close 
at  hand  and  easily  accessible ; while  there  is  a good  deal 
of  exaggeration  about  the  common  saying  that,  “a  Greek 
can  live  on  the  smell  of  an  oiled  rag,”  yet  the  needs  of  the 
peasant  are  simple  and  easily  supplied.  Want  that  verges 
on  starvation  is  rare  in  Greece. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  difficult  under  these  circum- 
stances to  lay  up  even  a moderate  amount  of  money.  As 
would  be  expected  in  a primitive  agricultural  country, 
each  of  the  small  towns  or  villages,  which  form  a charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  Greek  social  organization,  is  almost 
entirely  independent.  The  majority  of  the  families  raise 
their  own  living  materials ; thread  is  spun  and  cloth  woven 
by  hand  and  at  home ; baking  is  done  in  the  stone  or  mud 
oven  which  stands  in  every  typical  dooryard;  shoes,  cook- 
ing utensils  and  various  implements  and  tools  are  made  in 
small  shops  in  the  village.  Thus  each  man’s  products  are 
virtually  the  same  as  his  neighbor’s,  and  there  is  small 
necessity  or  opportunity  for  exchange.  As  a result,  the 
internal  commerce  of  Greece  is  insignificant. 

This  state  of  affairs  is  accentuated  by  the  small  develop- 
ment of  transportation  facilities.  While  there  has  been 
much  improvement  in  this  respect  in  the  last  few  years, 
means  of  communication  are  still  very  inadequate.  There 
are  a number  of  good  highways  in  Greece,  some  of  them 
kept  in  fair  condition ; other  roads  are  merely  a succession 

62 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


of  mudholes,  while  a great  part  of  the  carrying  must  still 
be  done  by  horses  or  mules  over  mere  bridlepaths.  When 
crops  have  to  be  transported  in  this  way  for  several  hours 
before  reaching  a railroad  or  market,  any  possible  profit 
is  quickly  consumed.  The  railroads  are  all  owned  by 
private  companies,  of  which  the  stock  is  largely  in  foreign 
hands.  In  1908  the  mileage  was  as  follows:  Hellenic 
railways,  149  miles ; Peloponnesus  Railway,  468  miles ; 
Thessalian  Railway,  127  miles;  total,  744  miles.*  The 
trains  are  of  the  English  type,  the  cars  small  and  the 
tracks  narrow.  The  schedules  are  for  the  most  part  very 
slow:  the  distance  from  Athens  to  Calamata,  about  205 
miles,  is  a matter  of  about  twelve  hours  by  rail,  an  average 
of  seventeen  miles  per  hour;  between  Athens  and  Patras 
express  trains  run  three  or  four  times  a week  which  make 
somewhat  better  time.  There  are  three  classes  and  the 
tariffs  are  as  follows:  First  class,  .12,  second  class,  .10, 
third  class,  .06  drachmas  per  kilometer.  Reduced  to  our 
basis  of  measurement  these  rates  are,  3.8,  3.2  and  1.9  cents 
per  mile.  The  postal  service  is  miserable : if  a letter  is  in 
the  mails  between  Patras  and  Athens,  the  addressee  is  for- 
tunate if  he  receives  it  before  the  third  day  after  it  is 
posted.  At  the  same  time  domestic  letter-postage  is  .20 
drachmas,  the  equivalent  of  four  cents,  which  seems  espe- 
cially exorbitant  when  the  diminutive  size  of  the  country  is 
considered. 

The  ignorance  and  stupidity  of  the  people  sometimes 
impede  improvement  along  these  Knes.  A short  time  ago, 
when  an  effort  was  made  to  introduce  freight  and  passen- 
ger automobiles  for  service  between  Tripolis  and  Sparta, 
and  some  freight  automobiles  in  Athens,  the  populace 

* Daily  Consular  Trade  Reports,  October  2,  1908,  p.  11. 


63 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


opposed  the  innovation  with  demonstrations  amounting 
almost  to  riots.  The  argument  advanced  was  that 
these  new  machines  would  put  horses  out  of  business, 
thereby  advancing  the  price  of  bread,  as  there  would 
then  be  no  demand  for  bran.  The  press  supported  the 
demonstrators ! 

One  of  the  most  up-to-date  transportation  facilities  in 
Greece  is  the  electric  tram  line  between  Athens  and  the 
Piraeus.  In  the  equipment,  handhng  of  passengers,  run- 
ning of  trains  and  attendance,  this  line  is  admirably 
managed. 

In  consideration  of  the  conditions  outlined  above,  and 
the  difficulties  of  interior  commerce  resulting  therefrom, 
it  is  inevitable  that  for  any  lucrative  trade  the  Greek  is 
obliged  to  rely  upon  export ; and  yet  the  exportable  prod- 
ucts of  the  country  are  few.  By  far  the  most  important 
of  these  is  the  currant,  a small,  very  sweet,  seedless  grape 
which  is  raised  on  the  lowlands  along  the  west  coast  of  the 
peninsula  and  on  some  of  the  islands.  This  district  fur- 
nishes practically  the  whole  currant  supply  of  the  world. 
The  currants  are  dried  in  the  sun,  cleaned,  packed  in  car- 
tons, boxes,  or  barrels,  and  shipped  to  England,  America, 
or  elsewhere.  Currant  raising  is  the  fundamental  industry 
of  the  nation,  and  the  dependence  of  the  whole  Greek 
people  on  the  currant  crop  is  almost  pathetic.  Other 
export  products  are  wine  (made  largely  from  currants), 
cheese,  olives  and  olive  oil,  figs  and  hashish. 

The  importance  of  the  export  trade,  even  though  the 
articles  of  export  are  so  few,  added  to  the  natural  mer- 
cantile proclivities  of  the  people,  has  led  a large  part  of 
the  Greek  people  in  all  times  to  devote  themselves  to  mari- 
time pursuits.  The  Greeks  are  today,  as  always,  a nation 


64 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


of  sailors.  The  following  statement  is  taken  from  Mr. 
Horton’s  reports:  “According  to  ‘Veritas,’  a British 
publication,  the  Greek  marine  for  1906  numbered  204 
steamers  of  353,484  total  tonnage,  while  in  1905  it  con- 
sisted of  185  steamers  of  333,921  tonnage.  Of  sailing 
vessels  of  more  than  50  tons  each,  the  number  is  given  for 
1906  as  877,  with  a total  tonnage  of  179,845.”  Greece 
is  said  to  be  the  foremost  rival  of  Great  Britain  for  the 
trade  of  Constantinople.  Sea  traffic  has  been  considerably 
facilitated  by  the  Corinth  Canal,  completed  in  1893. 
This  was  not  a paying  investment  on  the  basis  of  the 
original  cost,  and  was  recently  sold  at  auction;  on  the 
new,  and  much  smaller  capitalization,  it  is  said  to  be  pay- 
ing handsome  dividends.  Unfortunately  it  is  too  narrow 
to  admit  the  larger  ships  in  the  Mediterranean  service. 
The  principal  port  of  the  kingdom  is  the  Piraeus,  which 
has  an  excellent  harbor,  and  the  main  shipping  port  for 
the  currant  crop  is  Patras.  In  the  height  of  the  shipping 
season  the  whole  water  front  of  the  city  presents  a scene 
of  feverish  activity.  Patras  is  also  the  main  point  of 
embarkation  for  the  emigrants  to  America. 

When  it  became  evident  that  emigration  to  America  was 
going  to  assume  large  proportions,  efforts  were  made  to 
organize  one  or  two  Greek  steamship  companies,  operating 
direct  lines  to  the  United  States.  But  the  inveterate  fac- 
tionalism and  commercial  dishonesty,  so  characteristic  of 
the  race,  seriously  hindered  these  projects.  In  regard  to 
one  of  these  companies  we  find  the  following  statement  in 
an  official  report  in  1905:  “Unfortunately  the  projected 
line  of  steamships  between  the  Piraeus  and  New  York  has 
not  yet  materialized.  The  project  fell  through  just  at  the 
moment  when  it  seemed  about  to  be  realized,  on  account 


65 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


of  personal  differences  among  the  directors.  The  com- 
pany is  now  split  up  into  two  hostile  factions,  one  of  which 
seems  to  have  the  ships  and  the  other  most  of  the  money, 
and  until  they  get  together  there  is  not  much  prospect  of 
the  line  being  got  into  running  order.”  This  passage 
undoubtedly  refers  to  the  Moraites  Company,  which  was 
finally  organized  and  in  1908  sent  its  first  ship  to  New 
Yoi'k.  But  the  company  was  short-lived.  Soon  after  its 
organization  two  of  its  ships  were  sunk,  one  near  Greece 
and  one  near  New  Orleans,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
sinking  of  at  least  one  of  them  were  so  suspicious  that  the 
insurance  companies  refused  to  pay  the  loss.  This 
catastrophe,  coupled  with  dissensions  among  the  directors, 
broke  up  the  company ; it  was  speedily  reorganized,  how- 
ever, and  is  now  doing  business,  under  the  name  “Themis- 
tokles,”  which  is  also  the  new  name  of  the  principal  ship 
of  the  line.  More  recently  a new  line  has  been  started 
bearing  the  title  “Hellenic  Transatlantic  Steam  Naviga- 
tion Company,  Ltd.,”  whose  principal  emigrant  ship  is  the 
Patris.  This  company,  too,  had  a stroke  of  hard  luck, 
which  cast  a shadow  over  its  career  and  tended  to  put  the 
Greek  companies  in  bad  repute  in  the  eyes  of  shippers  and 
insurance  companies.  Late  in  the  winter  of  1908-09  one 
of  its  cargo  steamers  was  entering  the  harbor  of  Patras 
at  night  and  collided  with  a Belgian  cargo  boat  lying 
anchored  outside  the  breakwater,  sinking  the  latter  in 
water  deep  enough  to  preclude  all  probability  of  salvage. 
The  excuse  given  by  the  Greek  captain  was  that  he  could 
not  tell  whether  the  other  ship  was  outside  or  inside  the 
breakwater. 

Frederick  List,  in  his  system  of  economics,  laid  great 
stress  on  the  importance  to  any  nation  of  a diversified  in- 

66 


K 


PLANT  OF  THE  SOCIETE  HELLENIQUE  DE  VINS  ET  SPIIHTUEUX,  ELEUSIS 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


dustry.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  generality  of 
cases,  the  agricultural  resources  of  a country  need  to  be 
supplemented  by  a well-developed  manufacturing  industry 
in  order  to  secure  the  greatest  prosperity.  In  this  respect 
Greece  is  sadly  lacking,  for  its  manufactures  are  in  a very 
low  state ; the  plants  are  for  the  most  part  small  and  com- 
paratively insignificant.*  One  sees  very  few  factories  of 
considerable  size  while  traveling  through  Greece ; some  of 
the  most  notable  plants  are  those  of  the  Societe  Hellenique 
de  Vins  et  Spiritueux  at  Eleusis  and  Calamata.  The 
reasons  for  this  meager  development  of  manufactures  are 
various.  In  the  first  place,  Greece  is  very  poorly  supplied 
with  mineral  resources ; there  is  no  coal,  and  the  lignite 
which  has  been  discovered  in  northern  Greece  has  hitherto 
proved  of  little  value.  The  mineral  products  include  iron, 
manganese,  chrome  ore,  magnesium,  sulphur,  emery  stone, 
plaster,  salt,  lead,  silver  ore,  speiss,  marble  and  miUstones. 
But  the  total  value  of  these  products  in  1905  was  only 
$2,615,086,  though  it  rose  to  $4,070,928  in  1906. t Lack 
of  coal  is  not  compensated  for  by  any  abundant  water 
power;  the  mountain  streams  are  utilized  in  a small  Avay 
to  turn  gristmills,  but  if  there  are  any  extensive  resources 
in  this  direction,  they  have  not  as  yet  been  developed. 

Another  economic  disabihty  is  presented  by  the  matter 
of  taxation.  The  agricultural  taxes  are  not  heavy ; they 
consist  mainly  in  a tax  on  live  stock  and  one  on  productive 
plants,  as  for  instance  a tax  on  vineyards  of  from  one  and 
one  half  to  four  drachmas  per  stremma  (1,196  square 

* In  Table  1 is  given  a list  of  the  principal  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments in  operation  in  the  principal  cities  of  Greece  in  the  year 
1905. 

f Consul-General’s  Report,  1908. 

67 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


yards).  But  the  total  is  not  great  and  these  taxes  are  not 
felt  as  a burden.  The  customs  tariffs,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  very  onerous ; they  are  arbitrary  and  in  many  cases 
extreme.*  The  customs  officials  are  often  careless  and 
arrogant,  and  the  assessments  are  very  uneven,  varying 
from  15  per  cent  to  30  per  cent  on  the  same  article. 
Goods  are  handled  very  roughly  by  the  inspectors,  fre- 
quently being  dumped  out  on  the  floor,  and  breakage  in 
the  customs  house  is  a serious  item  in  the  cost  of  goods. 
There  is  also  a great  deal  of  corruption  among  the  officials. 

Another  really  serious  hindrance  to  the  development  of 
manufactures  is  the  frequency  of  religious  holidays.  The 
profits  on  an  expensive  installment  of  machinery  are  very 
quickly  eaten  up  if  it  has  to  lie  idle  eight  or  ten  days  out 
of  the  month — and  the  Greeks  will  not  work  on  holidays. 
Even  to  the  casual  traveler,  it  is  a source  of  continual 
annoyance  to  be  unable,  on  irregularly  recurring  occasions 
with  which  he  is  unfamiliar,  to  make  purchases  or  to  have 
checks  cashed.  The  commercial  representative  of  a 
foreign  business  house  finds  the  situation  stiU  more  vexing. 
Industry  in  Greece  is  subject  to  the  common  disadvantages 
which  affect  all  undeveloped  countries.  Transportation 
difficulties  have  been  noticed;  and  the  difficulty  of  getting 
repairs  for  machinery  is  another  quite  important  element 
in  the  problem.  There  are  some  iron  and  brass  foundries, 
but  their  output  is  mainly  rough,  and  as  most  of  the 
machines  in  use  in  the  country  are  imported,  the  breaking 
of  a small  part  may  cause  a very  expensive  delay. 

There  still  remains  to  be  considered  what  is  the  most 
fundamental  and  perhaps  the  most  serious  of  all  the  hin- 

* Table  2 gives  the  tariffs  on  some  of  the  principal  articles  of 
import. 


68 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


drances  to  the  development  of  industry  in  this  country — 
the  old  dishonesty  and  inability  to  work  together  in 
harmony,  which  have  already  been  mentioned  as  inveter- 
ately  Greek.  These  people  seem  incapable  of  carrying 
on  a large  cooperative  business  with  harmony  and  success. 
When  Greek  meets  Greek,  still  comes  the  tug  of  war — 
each  individual  tugging  to  get  the  greatest  possible  share 
of  the  profits  into  his  own  pocket,  or  at  least  to  get  the 
completest  possible  control  of  the  business  into  his  own 
hands.  One  of  the  maxims  of  Greek  business  life  trans- 
lated into  the  American  vernacular  is,  “Put  out  the  other 
fellow’s  eye” ; the  idea  of  sacrificing  personal  interest  and 
gain  for  the  sake  of  the  company’s  prosperity  is  foreign 
to  the  Greek  mind.  This  is  not  merely  the  opinion  of  a 
foreign  observer,  but  is  frankly  admitted  by  many  intelli- 
gent and  candid  thinkers  among  the  Greeks  themselves. 
The  disastrous  effect  of  this  peculiarity  in  the  case  of  the 
Moraites  Company  has  been  alluded  to;  and  yet  another 
example  is  furnished  by  the  lead  mines  at  Laurion.  There 
are  two  companies  working  these  mines,  one  Greek  and 
one  French:  the  former  has  every  advantage,  while  the 
latter  works  only  the  tailings  left  by  the  ancients ; yet 
it  is  said  that  the  French  company  is  making  handsome 
profits,  while  the  Greek  concern  never  pays  a dividend  on 
account  of  disagreements  among  the  directors. 

This  industrial  stagnation  is  not  due  to  lack  of  capital, 
for  there  is  plenty  of  it  in  the  country.  There  are  many 
wealthy  Greeks,  and  large  sums  of  money  are  lying  on 
deposit  in  the  banks  of  Athens,  drawing  only  3 or  4 per 
cent.*  But  the  Greek  plutocrat  of  today,  who  in  all 
probability  has  made  his  fortune  in  some  foreign  land, 
* These  sums  are  said  to  amount  to  300,000,000  francs. 


69 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


prefers  to  spend  it  in  a life  of  idleness  and  ease  in  the 
coffee-houses  and  clubs  of  Athens  rather  than  to  take  the 
trouble  to  employ  it  himself  in  some  productive  industry; 
and  he  is  afraid  to  entrust  it  to  any  of  his  countrymen  to 
be  so  employed,  for  he  has  no  confidence  in  their  business 
ability  or  honesty. 

The  conditions  outlined  above  have  produced  an  anoma- 
lous and  very  unfortunate  situation  in  Greece  today. 
Prices  are  very  high,  wages  are  very  low ; a comparison  of 
actual  figures*  will  show  that  for  the  working  man  even  the 
ordinary  comforts  of  life  are  almost  out  of  the  question. 
Within  the  last  few  years  Athens  has  ceased  to  be  a cheap 
place  to  live  in,  and  has  become  one  of  the  most  expensive 
cities  in  Europe.  A summary  of  this  state  of  affairs  is 
quoted  by  Mr.  Horton  from  a writer  in  the  Economist 
d' Orient,  as  follows  if  All  the  merchants,  great  and 
small,  testify  to  a stagnation,  the  causes  of  which  they 
can  not  explain,  or  profess  not  to  know.  The  peasants 
desert  the  country  either  to  sit  about  the  cafes  of  Athens 
and  PirJEus,  or  to  leave  for  America.  The  minister  of  war 
has  recently  been  able  to  recruit  only  6,000  to  7,000  men 
on  a call  for  15,000.  Nearly  £00,000  young  men  have 
emigrated  to  America  and  the  Transvaal.  About  1,000 
houses  are  vacant  in  Athens,  and  yet  the  prices  of  rent 
have  raised  15  to  £0  per  cent.  The  principal  articles  of 
food  grow  dearer  continually,  and  the  products  of  manu- 
facture, notwithstanding  the  fall  of  exchange  to  1.08  and 
1.09,  are  at  the  same  price  in  drachmas  as  when  the  franc 

* A list  of  the  rates  of  wages  in  various  occupations  will  be  found 
in  Table  3 and  the  prices  of  some  of  the  more  important  commodi- 
ties in  Tables  4 and  5. 

f Consular  Reports,  May  11,  1907. 


70 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


was  worth  1.55  to  1.60.”  Rents  in  Athens  net  about  5 
per  cent  or  6 per  cent  after  deducting  taxes,  water-rates, 
etc.  Interest  rates  in  various  parts  of  Greece  vary  from 
6 per  cent  to  8 per  cent  or  10  per  cent.  A few  years  ago 
they  ran  from  10  per  cent  to  15  per  cent. 

The  fall  in  exchange,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  quota- 
tion, is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  economic 
situation  in  Greece.  The  standard  of  value  in  Greece  is 
the  gold  drachma,  corresponding  in  value  to  the  French 
franc  and  the  Italian  lira,  but  the  common  medium  of 
exchange  is  the  paper  drachma.  This  money  is  issued  in 
the  form  of  bank  notes,  of  the  denominations  of  one,  two, 
five  and  ten  drachmas,  and  higher  denominations,  the  size 
of  the  paper  note  varying  with  the  value.  A decade  ago 
the  exchange  between  gold  and  silver  was  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  160,  that  is  to  say,  with  100  gold  or  silver  drach- 
mas or  francs  you  could  secure  160  paper  drachmas  with 
which  you  could  go  out  and  make  your  purchases.  Large 
amounts  of  money,  salaries,  and  in  fact  any  permanent 
sums  of  money  are  reckoned  in  gold,  while  ordinary  prices 
are  quoted  in  the  more  unstable  medium  of  paper.  Even 
in  so  recent  a publication  as  the  1905  edition  of  Baedeker’s 
Guide  Book,  hotel  rates,  etc.,  are  frequently  quoted  in  both 
gold  and  paper,  and  the  difference  is  proportional  to  that 
between  eight  and  twelve.  Within  the  last  few  years, 
however,  the  rate  of  exchange  has  fallen  rapidly  until  it 
now  stands  at  108,  or  even  less.  The  following  causes 
have  been  suggested  for  this  phenomenon:  (1)  Loans 
from  European  sources  for  the  financing  of  internal  enter- 
prises; (2)  restoration  of  confidence  in  Greece,  leading 
to  the  purchase  abroad  of  Greek  securities;  (3)  emigra- 
tion to  America.  Large  sums  of  money  have  been  sent 


71 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


back  home,  making  currency  freer.  These  sums  are  esti- 
mated by  the  Postmaster-General  of  Greece  at  about 
$8,000,000  per  year.  Mr.  Horton’s  report  for  1905, 
from  which  these  suggestions  have  been  taken,  enumerates 
three  others  of  a more  temporary  nature:  (4)  A good 
grain  crop  in  Thessaly;  (5)  the  founding  of  the  Banque 
d’Orient;  (6)  the  fact  that  during  the  EngHsh-Boer  war, 
gold  was  used  by  Greek  capitalists  to  buy  ships.  With 
the  cessation  of  the  war,  this  outlay  ceased,  while  the  ships 
continued  to  earn  money. 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  money  sent  home  from 
America  should  rank  as  the  most  important  of  all  these 
causes.  But,  however  caused,  the  effect  of  this  fall  in 
exchange  is  sufficiently  definite ; nominal  prices  have  re- 
mained practically  the  same  as  they  were  ten  years  ago, 
which  means  that  real  prices  have  advanced  virtually  about 
30  per  cent.  There  has  been  some  advance  in  wages  to 
compensate  for  it;  but  the  wage-earning  class  in  Greece 
is  not  a large  one,  and  for  the  salaried  classes  and  the 
small  independent  producer,  it  means  that  the  cost  of 
living  has  increased  enormously.  The  whole  discouraging 
situation  is  so  admirably  summed  up  in  Mr.  Horton’s 
Report  on  Industrial  Conditions,  that  we  take  the  hberty 
of  quoting  several  paragraphs  entire  (Report  of  1908). 

“There  are  few  manufacturing  plants  and  none  of  any 

great  importance Female  and  child  labor  are  very 

generally  utilized  in  Greece,  whenever  they  can  be  made 

serviceable There  is  not  much  hope  for  a laboring 

man  to  save  money  in  Greece,  where  three  to  four  drachmas 
a day  are  good  wages  and  where  seven  drachmas  are 
regarded  as  a high  wage  for  a master  workman.”  A 
laborer  earning  five  drachmas  per  day  will  pay  ten  drach- 


72 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


mas  per  month  for  a room  for  himself  and  his  family. 
“The  workman’s  breakfast  consists  of  bread  and  black 
coffee ; his  luncheon  of  a piece  of  bread,  or  if  he  can  afford 
it,  a piece  of  bread  and  some  black  olives,  which  he  usually 
takes  with  him  in  a little  round,  covered  box.  Sometimes 
he  buys  a half  cent’s  worth  of  inferior  grapes,  or  a tomato. 
Thus  his  lunch  would  cost,  say,  six  cents  for  bread  and 
two  cents  for  olives. 

“At  night  the  family  dines  on  a few  cents’  worth  of 
rice,  boiled  together  with  wild  greens  and  olive  oil,  and 
bread,  or  wild  greens  boiled  in  olive  oil  and  eaten  with 

bread,  or  some  similar  inexpensive  dish Meat  is 

eaten  by  the  laboring  classes  as  a general  thing  three 
times  a year:  Christmas,  Easter,  and  on  the  so-called 
‘Birth  of  the  Virgin,’  which  the  church  has  set  down  for 
the  month  of  August.  Such  a family  as  I am  describing, 
the  average  laboring  man’s  family  of  Greece,  rarely  if 
ever  see  such  things  as  butter,  eggs  and  milk.  There  are 
180  fasting  days  in  the  Greek  religious  year,  which  are 
rigorously  observed  by  the  laboring  class,  without,  how- 
ever, causing  any  marked  degree  of  abnegation  in  the 
matter  of  diet.” 

People  living  under  conditions  of  this  sort  are  ripe  for 
emigration,  especially  if,  like  the  Greeks,  they  are  of  a 
stock  which  has  always  displayed  great  readiness  in  sever- 
ing home  ties.  All  that  is  needed  to  start  an  enormous 
exodus  is  some  immediate  stimulus,  some  slight  turn  in  the 
condition  of  affairs,  provided  that  a favorable  outlet  pre- 
sents itself,  and  the  process  of  migration  is  not  too  expen- 
sive or  difficult.  As  an  American  gentleman  of  long  resi- 
dence in  Athens  remarked,  “The  wonder  is,  not  that  the 


73 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Greeks  are  now  emigrating  to  America  in  such  numbers, 
but  that  they  did  not  begin  long  ago.” 

The  new  Greek  emigration  to  America  is  a matter  of 
the  last  decade.*  It  is  within  this  period  that  these  people 
have  been  coming  in  such  immense  and  ever-increasing 
numbers  as  to  make  the  movement  a true  social  phenome- 
non. It  seems  undeniable  that  there  must  have  been  some 
moving  cause,  some  epochal  development,  about  the  close 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  have  started  the  wheel  to 
turning  wdth  such  increased  velocity.  If  we  review  the 
causes  of  the  industrial  mal-development  as  outlined  above, 
we  find  nothing  there  of  very  recent  origin  except  the 
matter  of  the  fall  in  exchange ; this,  however,  is  primarily 
a result  and  only  secondarily  a cause  of  emigration.  It 
is  almost  impossible  to  get  even  an  intelligent  Greek  to 
comprehend  your  meaning  if  you  ask  him  what  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  new  emigration.  These  people  are 
not  fitted  by  mental  equipment  or  training  for  analytical 
reasoning;  they  habitually  look  only  at  the  surface  of 
things.  About  all  the  answer  you  can  hope  to  get  is 
something  as  follows : “Why,  our  country  is  poor  and 
America  is  rich.  They  go  there  because  they  can  get 
more  money.” 

The  two  most  plausible  explanations  for  this  new  move- 
ment are  connected  with  the  hostility  of  Roumania  and 
Bulgaria,  and  with  the  failure  of  the  currant  market,  both 
of  which  occurrences  are  of  comparatively  recent  origin. 
In  former  years  large  numbers  of  Greeks  found  a field  for 
their  enterprise  in  the  neighboring  countries  of  Roumania 
and  Bulgaria.  These  Greeks  did  not  belong  exclusively 
to  the  exploiting  class,  such  as  has  always  gone  to  Turkey 
* See  Table  6. 


74 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


and  Egypt — though  perhaps  here  too  they  were  the  most 
numerous ; there  were  also  large  numbers  of  agriculturists 
and  some  laborers,  particularly  boatmen  and  stevedores 
along  the  Danube.  However,  within  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century  a strong  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  Greeks  has 
grown  up  in  both  Bulgaria  and  Roumania : in  Bulgaria  the 
difficulty  is  largely  due  to  religious  antagonism  between 
the  clergy  and  the  people  of  the  two  nations,  and  it  is 
coming  to  pass  that  a Greek  hates  a Bulgarian  almost  as 
much  as  he  does  a Turk.  In  Roumania  the  trouble  is. 
largely  political:  in  accordance  with  recent  legislation, 
unless  a Greek  becomes  a Roumanian  citizen  (which  very 
few  are  willing  to  do),  he  is  subjected  to  a great  deal  of 
annoyance  and  hindrance.  In  consequence  of  all  this, 
Greeks  have  ceased  going  to  the  countries  in  question,  and 
many  who  were  there  have  returned,  sometimes  with  broken 
fortunes.  It  is  said  that  Russia  also  gives  the  Greeks  less 
freedom  now  than  of  old.  Against  the  use  of  these  facts 
as  an  explanation  of  the  new  emigration  it  is  argued  that 
the  movement  to  Bulgaria  and  Roumania  was  never  nearly 
so  extensive  as  it  now  is  to  America,  and  that  the  class  of 
emigrants  was  different  from  that  which  turns  toward 
America,  being  composed  much  more  largely  of  the  com- 
mercial and  exploiting  class.  Both  of  these  points  are 
undoubtedly  true,  but,  as  has  been  already  pointed  out, 
there  were  a good  number  of  Greek  laborers  among  the 
emigrants  to  the  north  and  east.  And  even  if  there  had 
not  been,  a comparatively  small  number  of  the  more  intelli- 
gent and  enterprising  class,  going  to  America  and  estab- 
lishing themselves  in  prosperous  business,  would  have 
opened  the  way  for  a much  larger  number  of  a lower  class 
to  follow  them.  It  seems  entirely  reasonable  to  suppose 

75 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


that  the  closure  of  one  outlet  for  emigration  must  have 
served  as  a contributory  motive  for  seeking  another  outlet 
elsewhere. 

The  second  explanation  is,  however,  probably  much  more 
important,  as  it  is  directly  connected  with  the  basic  agri- 
cultural industry  of  the  country.  About  1863  there 
appeared  in  France  a disastrous  pest  among  the  grape- 
vines which  was  identified  as  the  phylloxera,  a disease 
caused  by  a small  insect  belonging  to  the  family  of  the 
aphidce  or  plant  lice,  and  whose  native  home  is  in  America. 
These  insects  attach  themselves  to  the  roots  of  the  vines, 
forming  roughness  and  swellings,  and  causing  the  leaves 
to  turn  yellow  and  wither  and  the  fruit  to  shrivel  up. 
After  the  introduction  of  phylloxera  into  France  it  spread 
very  rapidly  and  caused  great  devastation.  But  what 
was  France’s  loss  was  the  gain  of  Greece,  for  the  failure 
of  the  grape  crop  in  France  caused  a large  demand  for 
Greek  currants  to  be  used  in  wine  making  in  the  former 
country.  For  a while  the  currant  market  was  very 
vigorous,  and  the  culture  of  this  fruit  was  the  most  lucra- 
tive agricultural  pursuit  in  Greece.  Allured  by  the  prom- 
ise of  large  and  speedy  profits  in  currant  raising,  the 
Greek  farmers  allowed  the  silk  culture  to  decline,  and  very 
many  of  them  cut  down  their  fine  old  olive  orchards  and 
planted  the  ground  with  vines.  For  a while  all  went  well ; 
but  in  the  meantime  France  was  making  every  effort  to 
discover  some  efficient  means  of  combating  the  pest. 
Chemical  inoculation  of  the  soil,  inundation  of  the  vine- 
yards, mechanical  cleansing  of  the  roots,  were  all  tried 
with  no  great  success.  American  vines,  immune  to  the  dis- 
ease, were  imported,  but  this  resulted  in  a deterioration 
of  the  wine.  Finally,  late  in  the  nineteenth  century,  a new 


76 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


experiment  was  tried:  American  vines  were  imported  and 
upon  their  roots  were  grafted  branches  of  French  vines. 
Thus  were  combined  the  immunity  of  the  former  and  the 
fine  quality  of  the  latter.  The  process  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful and  proved  to  be  the  solution  of  the  problem ; the 
culture  of  the  vine  revived  in  France,  and  as  a consequence 
there  was  a sharp  falling  off  in  the  market  for  currants 
which  spelled  disaster  for  Greece.  The  olive  trees  could 
not  be  replaced,  since  it  takes  many  years  for  an  olive 
orchard  to  reach  a really  productive  stage. 

The  depressed  state  of  the  currant  market  is  one  of  the 
most  noticeable  features  of  the  economic  situation  in 
Greece  at  the  present  time.  Everybody  is  talking  about 
it.  A large  part  of  the  crop  of  1908  was  still  lying  unsold 
in  the  warehouses  the  following  spring.  Various  efforts 
have  been  made  to  find  some  new  way  to  utilize  this 
material.  One  of  the  most  successful  has  been  the  manu- 
facture from  currants  of  combustible  spirits  which  can  be 
used  in  lamps  and  heating  stoves.  The  visitor  to  Greece 
notices  everywhere  a peculiar  form  of  lamp,  using  a mantle 
of  the  Welsbach  type,  but  burning  alcohol.  Experiments 
are  now  being  carried  on  in  the  hope  of  devising  some 
method  of  extracting  sugar  from  the  currants,  and  while 
so  far  the  experimenters  have  not  succeeded  in  crystalliz- 
ing the  syrup,  considerable  hope  is  cherished  as  to  the  final 
outcome  of  the  attempt.  At  present,  however,  the  currant 
industry  is  sadly  demoralized. 

This  serious  and  comparatively  sudden  disaster  to  the 
market  for  the  principal  export  crop  furnished  the  imme- 
diate stimulus  which  was  needed  to  make  a people,  already 
in  depressed  condition,  seek  for  some  relief  from  the 
burdens  of  their  existence.  The  traditional  method  of 


77 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


relief  for  the  Greek  people  is  emigration.  All  that  was 
needed  was  the  prospect  of  some  favorable  country  to  go 
to,  and  some  provision  for  the  journey  thither.  The 
Greek  succeeds  best  either  in  countries  where  he  is  superior 
in  business  capacity  to  the  native  inhabitants,  or  in  a 
highly  developed  industrial  country,  where  he  can  work 
himself  into  some  unoccupied  corner  of  the  commercial 
edifice  and  build  up  a small  but  lucrative  trade.  To  the 
former  class  belong  Turkey,  Persia,  and  Egypt,  and  in 
these  countries  there  are  large  numbers  of  prosperous 
Greek  business  men.  But  opportunities  of  this  sort  are 
limited  in  number  and  demand  an  experience,  capital  and 
ability  which  the  ordinary  peasant  does  not  possess.  A 
large  number  of  Greeks  tried  the  Transvaal,  but  they 
were  not  very  successful  there,  probably  because  the  local 
English  business  men  were  their  superiors,  and  the  country 
was  not  sufficiently  developed  to  offer  many  opportunities 
for  profitable  small  trade.  America,  on  the  other  hand, 
and  especially  the  United  States,  offered  just  the  condi- 
tions which  the  Greek  populace  was  looking  for;  it  was 
a highly  developed  country,  with  plenty  of  money,  and 
people  were  ready  to  pay  well  for  the  gratification  of  their 
minor  wants.  For  a quarter  of  a century  Greeks  had  been 
going  to  America  in  small  numbers ; they  had  been,  for  the 
most  part,  successful,  and  were  in  command  of  businesses 
which  to  the  Greek  peasant  appeared  highly  lucrative; 
and  they  had  been  sending  home  glowing  accounts  of  the 
attractions  of  America,  accompanied  by  sums  of  money 
which  appeared  munificent  to  their  poverty-stricken  rela- 
tives and  friends  in  the  fatherland.  These  communications 
had  made  their  due  impression,  and  when  the  Greeks  began 
to  feel  the  necessity  of  escape  from  an  increasingly  difficult 

78 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


situation,  America  seemed  to  them  the  new  land  of  promise, 
and  they  began  by  thousands  to  answer  to  her  call.  Once 
started,  this  movement,  like  the  familiar  chain  letter,  could 
not  be  checked,  but  grew  by  its  own  multiplication.  Each 
Greek  in  America  became  the  nucleus  of  a rapidly  increas- 
ing group  of  his  own  kin  or  neighbors.  So  began  that 
great  exodus  which  assumed  such  startling  proportions  in 
the  early  years  of  the  present  century.  Given  the  stimulus 
and  the  goal,  all  that  remained  to  be  provided  was  the 
means  of  migration — the  material  means  of  conveyance 
and  the  financial  means  to  defray  the  expenses.  Both  of 
these  were  promptly  forthcoming;  steamship  agents  are 
never  slow  to  seize  opportunities  such  as  existed  in  Greece 
at  the  time  in  question,  and  all  the  principal  Mediterranean 
steamship  lines  established  agencies  in  the  Pirseus,  Patras 
and  other  ports,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  important  interior 
cities.  Emigration  agents  began  to  scour  the  country, 
exciting  the  imagination  of  the  peasants  as  to  the  glories 
and  opportunities  of  America,  clearing  away  the  difficulties 
which  seemed  to  beset  the  passage,  and  in  many  cases 
advancing  the  money  for  the  trip.  In  other  cases,  if  the 
prospective  emigrant  could  not  get  together  sufficient 
money  at  home,  it  was  furnished  him  by  some  friend  or 
relative  in  America. 

Just  how  large  a part  in  this  movement  has  been  played 
by  emigration  agents,  legally  and  illegally,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  say.  In  matters  of  this  kind  the  Greek  is 
extremely  deep  and  crafty,  and  it  would  be  the  work  of 
months,  perhaps  of  years,  for  a skilled  detective  actually 
to  make  out  a case  against  the  Greek  emigration  agents. 
They  are  accused  in  some  cases  of  working  through  the 
r priests.  One  of  the  first  things  that  attracts  the  eye  of 

79 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


the  traveler  landing  in  the  Piraeus  is  the  amazing  number 
of  American  flags  flying  from  office  buildings  all  along 
the  water  front  and  the  neighboring  streets ; their  signifi- 
cance is  somewhat  perplexing  until  he  learns  that  they  are 
steamship  offices  or  emigration  agencies — for  there  is  no 
great  distinction  between  the  two.  Patras  and  all  the 
other  leading  ports  abound  in  offices  of  this  kind,  and  they 
are  also  to  be  found  in  very  many  cities  and  villages  in 
the  interior.  It  is  contrary  to  human  nature,  particularly 
to  Greek  human  nature,  that  in  the  face  of  this  keen  com- 
petition these  agents  should  merely  sit  calmly  in  their 
offices  waiting  for  such  business  as  might  come  to  them ; 
as  an  American  would  say,  “they  go  out  after  the  busi- 
ness,” and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  have  exercised 
a tremendous  influence  in  exciting  and  perpetuating  the 
movement  to  America.  I was  told  on  excellent  authority 
of  one  gentleman,  born  in  Greece  of  English  parents,  who 
in  the  earlier  days  of  the  movement  was  said  by  his  friends 
to  have  made  ten  thousand  pounds  a year  out  of  this  busi- 
ness. He  had  agents  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and 
even  extended  his  operations  to  Turkey ; he  sold  tickets, 
advanced  money  to  the  emigrants  to  pay  their  debts  to 
the  government  and  the  expenses  of  the  voyage,  and  in 
every  way  facilitated  their  passage.  A few  years  ago  he 
was  complaining  that  the  new  immigration  laws  of  the 
United  States  were  cutting  into  his  profits ; and  he  is  now 
an  agent  for  one  of  the  principal  steamship  lines.  The 
great  harvest  for  the  agent  is  now  over,  for  the  Greek 
today  is  too  familiar  with  conditions  in  America  to  be 
fooled  by  the  old  stories  of  dollars  picked  up  on  the  street, 
and  rich  food  to  be  had  for  the  mere  asking;  but  there  is 


80 


HARBOR  OF  PATRAS,  BY  NIGHT 


DIRECT  CAUSES  OF  EMIGRATION 


still  plenty  of  money  to  be  made  out  of  emigrants,  and  will 
be  as  long  as  they  keep  coming. 

The  emigration  movement,  as  may  be  inferred  from  what 
has  gone  before,  has  given  a great  impetus  to  the  steam- 
ship business  of  Greece ; it  is  doubtful,  indeed,  if  a single 
direct  line  of  steamers  between  Greek  and  American  ports 
would  pay  expenses  without  the  emigrant  traffic.  As  it 
is,  there  are  several  that  are  doing  a profitable  business. 
The  two  Greek  lines  have  been  already  mentioned.  The 
most  important  of  all  lines  is  the  Austro- American,  which 
is  a new  Austrian  company  with  its  headquarters  in 
Trieste.  In  1905  it  sent  its  first  ship  from  the  Piraeus 
to  New  York,  via  Patras,  with  the  expectation  of  catching 
the  currant  and  emigrant  trade,  a project  which  was  very 
successful.  The  number  of  ships  sailing  direct  from 
Greece  to  New  York  was  increased,  and  in  1908  this  com- 
pany had  forty-two  sailings  from  Patras  to  the  United 
States,  of  which  twenty-nine  were  emigrant  boats  to  New 
York,  six  emigrant  boats  to  New  Orleans  and  seven  cargo 
boats  to  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  In  the 
same  year  the  Prince  line  had  nine  sailings  and  the 
Moraites  line  three  sailings  from  Greece  to  the  United 
States.  Almost  every  important  Atlantic  steamship  com- 
pany has  an  agency  or  connection  in  at  least  one  of  the 
Greek  ports,  and  many  emigrants  still  go  to  America  by 
way  of  Naples,  or  even  of  Cherbourg  or  Havre. 

The  situation  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows : 
The  conditions  due  to  the  meager  industrial  development 
in  Greece  have  within  recent  years  been  accentuated  by 
a marked  agricultural  depression.  This  has  made  it  very 
difficult  for  the  ordinary  peasant  to  secure  even  a moderate 
return  for  his  labors.  The  marked  rise  in  prices  which 

81 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


for  various  reasons  has  occurred  contemporaneously  with 
the  decline  in  the  agricultural  market,  has  added  to  the 
burdens  of  life  until  they  have  become  very  heavy.  The 
Greek  peasants  have  accordingly  been  led  to  look  for  some 
new  field  of  effort  where  there  are  greater  returns  for 
labor,  and  have  found  it  in  the  United  States.  The 
motives  for  the  new  emigration  are  practically  without 
exception  of  a financial  nature,  and  may  be  concisely  ex- 
pressed in  the  answer  to  his  queries  which  one  constantly 
receives  from  the  Greeks  themselves : “We  go  to  America 
because  we  can  get  more  money  there.” 


82 


CHAPTER  V 


The  Sources  and  Means  of  Emigration 

IF  we  bear  in  mind  the  causes  of  the  new  emigration 
movement  from  Greece  as  they  have  been  outlined 
above,  we  will  expect  to  find  that  the  first  sections  of  the 
country  to  respond  largely  to  the  call  of  America  were 
those  which  were  the  most  purely  agricultural  and  the 
most  circumscribed  by  their  natural  surroundings,  and 
also  where  the  people  were  the  most  hardy  and  adventu- 
rous. On  examination  of  the  actual  conditions  we  find 
that  this  a priori  conclusion  is  justified.  The  honor — if 
such  it  be — of  being  the  cradle  of  Greek  emigration  to 
America,  must  be  accorded  to  the  districts  of  Tripolis  and 
Sparta.  Both  are  interior  districts  and  hence  mainly 
agricultural  and  pastoral.  Both  are  closely  hemmed  in 
by  mountain  chains,  with  only  a few  outlets,  and  in  the 
former  district  particularly  the  people  are  of  a very  hardy 
and  energetic  type.  In  these  two  sections  we  may  find 
the  primary  springs  of  the  great  current  which  now  draws 
its  volume  from  so  many  divergent  sources,  though  the 
greatest  contingents  still  come  from  these  regions. 

Tripolis  the  city,  and  the  villages  which  are  grouped 
around  it  lie  on  a broad  and  fertile  table-land  situated  in 
the  center  of  the  Peloponnesus,  at  an  elevation  of  about 
2,000  feet  above  sea  level.  It  is  surrounded  by  rocky  and 
barren  mountains,  and  the  only  means  of  egress  is 
through  a few  narrow  passes.  The  high  elevation  and 
invigorating  climate  have  bred  a race  of  people  hardy  in 
body,  and  keen,  intrepid,  and  alert  in  intellect,  who  have 


83 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


always  borne  the  reputation  of  wanderers  and  adventurers. 
From  this  demos  alone  it  is  said  that  30,000  persons  have 
emigrated  to  America,  out  of  a total  population  of 
800,000  to  400,000.  A more  detailed  description  of  this 
country  and  its  people  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  the 
effects  of  emigration.  (See  page  229.) 

Sparta  lies  in  a valley  to  the  south  of  Tripolis,  at  a 
considerably  lower  elevation  (735  feet).  It,  too,  is  sur- 
rounded by  mountains,  but  its  access  to  the  sea  is  easier 
than  that  of  Tripolis.  Its  people  also  are  of  a less  admir- 
able type  than  those  of  the  higher  district,  though  both 
groups  are  superior  to  the  lowland  population. 

From  these  two  centers  the  contagion  has  spread  until 
today  the  whole  Greek  world  may  be  said  to  be  in  a fever 
of  emigration.  From  the  highlands  and  the  lowlands  of 
the  Morea,  from  Attica,  Thessaly  and  Euboea,  from  Mace- 
donia, Asia  Minor  and  the  islands,  the  strong  young  men 
with  one  accord  are  severing  home  ties,  leaving  behind 
wives  and  sweethearts,  and  thronging  the  shores  of  Amer- 
ica in  search  of  opportunity  and  fortune.  “America”  is 
a household  word  in  almost  every  Greek  family.  It  is 
amazing  to  see  how  familiar  Greeks  are  with  conditions 
in  the  United  States.  The  economic  crisis  of  1907  in 
this  country  was  a topic  of  common  conversation  in  the 
coffee-houses,  and  it  was  commonly  attributed  to  the 
uncertainty  attendant  on  the  presidential  election.  “Now 
that  Taft  is  elected  tilings  will  be  all  right.”  The  trav- 
eler was  asked  on  every  hand  whether  business  was  “open- 
ing up”  in  America.  The  people  understand  the  social 
conditions  in  America,  and  the  circumstances  in  which 
their  friends  in  the  United  States  live.  They  know  the 
hardships  that  the  emigrants  suffer  from  dishonest  and 


84 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


tyrannical  bosses,  and  from  hard  living  conditions  and  a 
strange  climate.  But  they  also  know  well  the  opportu- 
nities for  making  money  in  the  far-away  land,  and  every 
month  thousands  of  them,  after  weighing  the  matter  care- 
fully, take  the  final  step  and  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
their  friends.  And  if  one  questions  a Greek,  at  home, 
en  route,  or  in  America  as  to  the  causes  of  the  emigration 
movement,  the  answer  is  almost  invariably  the  same : 
“Yes,  Greece  is  a beautiful  country,  but  it  is  poor.  It  is 
all  rocks  and  mountains.  It  is  hard  to  make  a living 
here.  America  is  rich.  I can  make  more  money  there. 
It  is  the  money.”  That  one  word  “money”  is  the  keynote 
of  Greek  emigration. 

In  considering  movements  of  this  kind  it  is  always  a 
matter  of  interest  to  determine  what  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation are  concerned.  It  is  of  vital  interest  to  the  United 
States  whether  we  draw  from  the  better  classes,  sound  in 
mind,  body  and  morals,  or  from  the  lower  strata  of  society. 
In  regard  to  this  phase  of  the  question,  after  what  has 
gone  before,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  as  far  as 
the  Greeks  are  concerned  emigration  to  the  United  States 
is  almost  wholly  an  affair  of  the  agricultural  and  pastoral 
classes.  The  reasons  for  this  are  obvious.  In  the  first 
place  the  population  of  Greece  is  predominantly  agricul- 
tural, and  it  is  this  class  which  feels  most  sharply  the 
pressure  of  the  unfavorable  conditions  of  the  country.  A 
Greek  business  man  of  ability  and  some  capital  stands  a 
much  better  chance  of  making  a handsome  fortune  in 
some  Mediterranean  country  than  he  does  in  the  United 
States.  As  one  young  man  remarked,  “A  Greek  who  goes 
to  the  United  States  comes  back  with  5,000  or  6,000 
drachmas,  while  one  who  goes  to  Egypt  brings  back 


85 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


50,000  or  100,000  drachmas.”  Of  late  years  there  has 
been  an  increasingly  large  number  of  business  and  pro- 
fessional men  among  the  Greek  immigrants  into  America. 
The  establishment  of  large  Greek  colonies  in  this  country 
has  made  a demand  for  priests,  doctors,  lawyers  and  men 
of  letters  of  their  own  race. 

But  of  the  peasant  class,  do  we  draw  the  better  or  the 
poorer.'’  In  answer  to  this  question  we  have  already  seen 
that  the  original  and  most  abundant  sources  of  emigra- 
tion are  sections  where  the  population  is  distinctly  superior 
to  the  lowland  classes.  Mr.  N.  Gortzis  in  his  book 
“’A/x€pt/<^  Kttt ’A/xeptKavot,”  (page  6)  says  of  the  emigrants: 
“But  whatever  may  be  their  motive,  they  are  superior  to 
the  average  type  of  their  compatriots.  The  fact  that 
they  do  not  shrink  from  crossing  an  ocean  3,000  miles  in 
extent,  to  seek  new  homes  and  to  begin  a new  life  in  a 
world  entirely  new  and  strange  to  them,  is  enough  to  show 
that  the  spirits  which  animate  their  bodies  are  strong  to 
take  risks,  to  encounter  the  unknown,  to  undergo  sacri- 
fices far  from  the  surroundings  in  which  they  were  born 
and  spent  their  childhood.”  (Translated.) 

The  proof  contained  in  the  last  part  of  the  paragraph 
quoted  seems  a trifle  inadequate  to  support  so  sweeping 
a statement  as  is  made  in  the  first  sentence.  It  is  very 
likely  true  that  the  few  original  emigrants  from  any 
country  are  of  an  adventurous,  daring  and  energetic  spirit 
and  in  that  respect  at  least  superior  to  their  neighbors. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  same  is  true  under  the  con- 
ditions which  now  prevail  in  Greece.  Their  destination 
is  no  longer  a strange  and  unknown  land.  The  conditions 
there  are  not  new  and  unfamiliar.  The  modern  Greek 
emigrant  is  ticketed  through  from  his  village  to  his  final 


86 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


destination,  his  passage  is  very  likely  paid  by  some  friend 
in  America,  he  has  probably  just  as  many  friends  in  the 
American  city  to  which  he  is  going  as  in  his  native  village 
and  the  conditions  in  which  he  finds  himself  in  America 
are  in  many  respects  a close  replica  of  his  home  surround- 
ings. He  knows  that  if  he  has  hard  luck  in  finding  work, 
or  falls  into  sickness  or  any  other  form  of  misfortune  his 
friends  will  care  for  him  and  send  him  home  if  necessary. 
This  is  the  typical  Greek  emigrant  of  today,  and  it  is  hard 
to  see  how  his  undertaking  is  a mark  of  any  special  supe- 
riority of  character. 

However,  to  state  the  matter  briefly,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  Greek  emigrating  class  is  composed  almost  wholly  of 
young  men  and  men  in  the  prime  of  life.  (See  page  113.) 
And  when  they  once  get  started  from  any  village,  they 
all  go ! All,  that  is  to  say,  who  are  not  inadmissible  under 
the  immigration  laws  of  the  United  States.  For  these 
restrictions  are  well  understood  in  Greece.  It  is  known 
that  persons  suffering  from  certain  classes  of  diseases,  the 
lame,  the  blind,  etc.,  will  be  refused  admission,  and  that 
America  does  not  welcome  old  or  enfeebled  men.  But  as 
for  the  strong  young  men,  emigration  makes  a clean  sweep 
of  them.  If  a peasant  is  asked,  “Have  many  gone  from 
your  village  to  America .P”  the  typical  answer  is:  “Oh,  yes, 
they  have  all  gone.  All  the  boys  are  in  America.”  There 
are  villages  in  Greece  where  a boy  grows  up  with  just  as 
much  of  an  expectation  of  going  to  the  United  States  as 
an  American  boy  has  of  remaining  here. 

The  greatest  agency  in  perpetuating  and  extending 
this  movement  is  the  letter  from  America.  A graphic 
account  of  the  operation  of  this  force  is  found  in  the 
Report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  for 

87 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


1907  (page  60)  : “An  influence  which  perhaps  has  not 
heretofore  been  accorded  the  recognition  to  which  its 
importance  entitles  it  is  the  ‘letter  to  the  home  folks’ 
written  by  the  alien  temporarily  or  permanently  domi- 
ciled here.  These  letters  constitute  the  most  extensive 
method  of  advertising  that  can  be  imagined;  almost  innu- 
merable ‘endless  chains’  are  thus  daily  being  forged  link 
by  hnk.  A letter  is  written  to  his  brother,  father,  or 
other  relative  by  an  alien  who,  after  a few  months’  employ- 
ment here,  has  been  able  to  save  $150  or  $200 — a small 
fortune  in  the  eyes  of  the  Italian  or  Hungarian  peasant — 
picturing  in  homely  but  glowing  terms  the  opportunities 
of  this  country  for  money  making.  That  letter  is  read 
by  or  to  every  inhabitant  of  the  village,  or  perhaps  even 
passed  on  to  other  neighboring  hamlets.  Others  are  thus 
induced  to  migrate — selling  their  belongings,  mortgaging 
their  property,  almost  enslaving  themselves  to  procure  the 
amount  of  the  passage.  They  come,  find  employment  at 
what  seems  to  them  fabulous  wages,  write  letters  home ; 
and  so  the  process  goes  on  and  on,  until  some  of  the  rural 
districts  of  such  countries  as  Italy  and  Hungary  are 
almost  depopulated. 

“Now  Greece  and  Turkey  are  becoming  involved  in  the 

same  influences This  is  an  influence  with  which  it 

is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  reckon.  That  it  is  a telling, 
if  not  the  most  important,  factor  in  the  production  of 
immigration  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  worst  of  it  is 
that  there  are  evidences  that  this  endless  chain  letter 
scheme  is  seized  upon  by  the  promoters  and  money  lenders 
to  further  their  interests,  and  no  opportunity  lost  to 
encourage  both  the  writing  and  the  extensive  dissemina- 
tion of  such  missives.  When  this  is  done  the  line  is  passed 


88 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


between  natural  and  forced  immigration,  and  the  machina- 
tions of  the  promoter  and  usurer  become  a menace  to  the 
alien  directly  and  to  the  welfare  of  this  country  incident- 
aUy.” 

Practically  every  Greek  who  starts  for  America  has 
in  his  pocket  a letter  from  some  fellow  countryman  in 
America,  or  at  least  a business  card  of  some  Greek  who 
has  established  himself  on  this  side.  The  great  majority 
have  some  relative  or  close  friend  here.  We  may  go  still 
further  and  say  with  safety  that  almost  without  exception 
Greek  emigrants  know  to  just  what  place  in  the  United 
States  they  are  going,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases 
have  a very  definite  idea  of  what  work  they  are  going  to 
do  when  they  get  here.  They  are  very  chary  about  admit- 
ting the  truth  of  the  last  statement,  however,  especially 
if  they  have  the  least  suspicion  that  their  questioner  has 
any  connection  with  the  United  States  government.  For 
the  United  States  immigration  laws  deny  admission  to 
any  aliens  “who  have  been  induced  or  solicited  to  migrate 
to  this  country  by  oflPers  or  promises  of  employment  or 
in  consequence  of  agreements,  oral,  written  or  printed, 
express  or  implied,  to  perform  labor  in  this  country  of 
any  kind,  skilled  or  unskilled.”  The  letter  of  this  law  is 
violated  wholesale  by  Greek  immigrants.  To  what  extent 
the  spirit  also  suffers  it  is  quite  impossible  to  say.  It  is 
a very  easy  thing  for  people  with  the  craft  and  cleverness 
of  the  Greeks  to  cover  up  any  illegality  in  a case  of  this 
sort.  It  is  a common  thing  to  see  a Greek  who  has  been 
in  America  for  a few  years  returning  to  his  fatherland  for 
a few  months’  visit,  and  then  going  back  to  America,  tak- 
ing with  him  a group  of  half  a dozen  or  more  of  his  friends 
and  neighbors.  It  is  quite  beyond  the  realm  of  possi- 


89 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


bility  for  any  stranger  to  find  out  by  what  inducements 
or  promises  he  has  persuaded  them  to  accompany  him.  A 
fuller  discussion  of  the  contract  labor  system  among  the 
Greeks  may  be  found  on  page  186. 

In  the  little  village  of  Tsipiana,  tucked  away  among  the 
rocky  hills  of  central  Greece,  there  was  living  a short  time 
ago  a fine  young  lad  with  a handsome  oval  face,  wavy 
hair,  and  a well-knit,  sturdy  frame.  His  name  was  Con- 
stantinos  Panagopoulos,  but  the  villagers  called  him 
Costa,  and  for  convenience  sake  we  will  follow  their 
example.  Costa  was  the  youngest  child  of  a family  of 
five,  three  boys  and  two  girls.  His  father  he  had  never 
known,  as  he  had  been  one  of  those  who  lost  their  lives  in 
the  ill-advised  Turkish  war  of  1897,  when  Costa  was  little 
more  than  a year  old.  The  loss  of  the  chief  bread-winner 
was  a hard  blow  for  the  family,  whose  circumstances  had 
never  been  easy,  but  they  all  rose  to  the  occasion  and  took 
up  the  new  burdens  that  presented  themselves.  Fortu- 
nately, they  owned  a small  plot  of  land  just  outside  the 
village.  Part  of  this  was  laid  out  in  vineyard  and  the 
rest  was  given  to  the  cultivation  of  wheat.  The  remain- 
ing property  of  the  family  consisted  in  a donkey  and  a 
few  sheep.  The  little  stone  cottage  in  the  village,  too, 
belonged  to  them.  This  put  them  in  independent  circum- 
stances, and  they  were  about  as  well  off  as  the  average  of 
their  fellow  villagers.  After  the  father’s  death,  the 
remaining  members  of  the  family  divided  the  labor  of 
cultivating  their  little  piece  of  ground  among  them.  As 
soon  as  Costa  was  able  to  walk  he  used  to  go  out  with  one 
of  his  brothers  or  sisters  and  help  watch  the  little  flock 
of  sheep  as  they  browsed  on  the  hillside. 

But  about  this  time  there  began  to  be  a new  stir  in  the 


90 


t 


TSIPIANA  (NOTE  THE  CIRCULAR  THRESHING-FLOORS 
IN  THE  FOREGROUND) 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


village.  Well-dressed  men  with  flashing  diamonds  and 
gold  watches,  and  a fascinating  air  of  prosperity  and 
worldliness,  frequently  drove  over  from  Tripolis,  and  sat 
about  the  colfee-houses  of  the  village,  telling  strange  tales 
of  a glorious,  far-away  land  called  America,  where  money 
could  almost  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  where  the  build- 
ings were  half  a mile  high,  and  strange  carriages  without 
horses  ran  about  the  streets.  More  than  this,  there  was 
work  there  for  everybody  and  a man  could  get  rich  in 
flve  years.  These  men  said  they  had  been  there  and  seen 
all  these  things,  and  so  it  seemed  that  it  must  be  so.  The 
villagers  used  to  hang  around  these  men  in  open-mouthed 
wonder  and  Costa’s  two  brothers  were  often  in  the  group. 
One  day  one  of  the  flashy  strangers  walked  out  to  the 
field  where  the  two  boys  were  working  and  had  a long  con- 
versation with  them.  He  asked  them  why  they  did  not 
leave  this  dull  and  poor  little  village,  where  they  had  no 
hope  of  ever  being  better  off  than  they  were  then,  and  go 
away  to  America  where  they  could  very  soon  make  a for- 
tune and  provide  a luxurious  home  for  themselves  and 
their  family.  He  said  he  had  a friend  in  Chicago  who  was 
running  a large  establishment  and  who  needed  several  boys 
to  do  easy  work  for  him,  and  he  would  use  his  influence  to 
get  the  boys  a position  with  the  Chicago  man.  His  con- 
versation inspired  the  boys  with  a keen  desire  to  get  away 
to  this  wonderful  land,  and  they  said  that  if  they  had  the 
money  they  would  certainly  go.  But  it  really  was  no  use 
thinking  of  it,  for  they  scarcely  could  get  money  enough 
together  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  family,  to  say  nothing 
of  taking  trips  across  the  ocean.  But  the  wonderful  man 
overcame  every  objection.  He  said  that  he  would  provide 
them  tickets  all  the  way  to  Chicago.  Of  course  he  would 


91 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


take  a mortgage  on  their  property,  just  for  the  form’s 
sake,  but  when  they  reached  America  they  could  earn 
enough  in  a very  few  months  to  pay  that  olf,  and  have 
some  laid  up  for  themselves. 

The  upshot  of  the  matter  was  that  the  boys  were  won 
over.  They  in  turn  persuaded  their  mother,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1901  they  started  for  America.  Then  began  a 
period  of  still  greater  hardship  for  those  who  were  left. 
The  entire  burden  of  cultivating  the  field  fell  on  the  mother 
and  the  two  girls,  while  Costa  had  to  spend  all  his  days 
watching  the  sheep.  After  a couple  of  months  letters 
began  to  come  from  the  boys.  They  were  full  of  dis- 
appointment. The  “establishment”  was  a small  shoe- 
shining  parlor  where  they  had  to  work  fifteen  or  sixteen 
hours  a day,  at  wages  so  small  that  only  by  dint  of  the 
strictest  economy  and  cruel  self-denial  could  they  save 
even  the  smallest  sums  weekly.  Moreover,  they  learned 
that  they  had  been  grievously  overcharged  for  their 
tickets,  but  the  mortgage  was  in  writing  and  the  interest 
must  be  paid  promptly,  whatever  befell. 

But  as  the  years  went  by  things  began  to  look  brighter. 
First  the  boys  wrote  that  they  were  getting  better  wages, 
and  were  able  to  begin  to  make  payments  on  the  principal 
of  the  mortgage.  Then  one  day  came  a letter  bringing 
with  it  enough  money  to  pay  off  the  entire  balance  of  the 
heavy  debt.  What  a day  of  rejoicing  that  was!  From 
that  time  on  things  went  prosperously.  In  a short  time 
the  boys  wrote  that  they  had  bought  a little  candy  store 
and  were  going  into  business  for  themselves.  For  a while 
after  this  the  letters  brought  less  money  than  before,  but 
only  for  a while.  Soon  the  sums  of  money  which  came 
regularly  every  month  began  to  assume  proportions  that 


92 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


seemed  fabulous.  These  were  laid  by,  until  the  total  was 
sufficient  to  pay  for  the  erection  of  a fine  new  house,  almost 
the  best  one  in  the  village. 

Thus  Costa  grew  up  with  his  eyes  turned  toward  Amer- 
ica. His  brothers  were  not  the  only  ones  who  had  gone 
to  that  wonderful  land.  Every  year  the  number  of  vil- 
lagers who  left  for  the  United  States  increased,  until  by 
the  time  Costa  was  about  thirteen  there  were  hardly  any 
young  men  left  in  the  village.  With  the  dowry  provided 
by  the  boys  in  America  the  elder  daughter  had  been  mar- 
ried. Her  husband,  too,  had  left  very  soon  for  America 
but  he  promised  to  send  for  her  soon  and  she  was  waiting 
in  patience.  The  younger  daughter,  though  she  too  had 
a good  dowry,  was  still  unmarried — there  were  so  few  men 
in  the  village. 

At  last  early  in  the  year  1909,  Costa  received  a letter 
from  his  elder  brother.  It  contained  several  strange- 
looking  slips  of  paper,  fastened  together,  and  read  some- 
thing like  this : 

Chicago,  Ills.,  Dec.  28,  1908. 

Dear  Costa: 

The  time  we  have  been  so  long  expecting  has  at  last  arrived. 
Our  business  has  reached  the  point  where  we  need  another 
helper,  and  we  want  you  to  come  over  and  help  us.  I enclose 
a complete  ticket  from  Tripolis  to  Chicago,  all  paid  for.  All 
you  have  to  do  is  to  show  it  to  the  men  as  you  go  along.  Have 
dear  mother  give  you  a written  paper  showing  that  you  have 
her  permission  to  come,  as  you  are  not  yet  sixteen.  We  will 
pay  you  the  same  wages  as  we  would  pay  any  other  clerk. 
Take  the  greatest  care  of  yourself,  dear  Costa,  and  come 
quickly.  Kiss  my  beloved  mother  and  sisters  for  me.  I kiss 
you  on  the  two  eyes. 

Your  affectionate  brother. 

93 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Needless  to  say  this  missive  caused  great  excitement  and 
joy  in  the  boy’s  heart.  The  steamship  ticket  was  for  a 
third-class  passage  on  a big  ship  sailing  from  Patras  early 
in  March — the  favorite  ship  for  Greek  immigrants,  as 
Costa  well  knew  from  having  heard  it  talked  of  often  by 
the  group  in  the  coffee-house. 

His  preparations  for  the  voyage  were  simple  and  were 
soon  made.  His  few  clothes  were  packed  into  a new  tele- 
scope which  he  purchased  in  Tripolis.  He  took  a fine, 
large  woolen  rug,  which  his  mother  had  made,  for  his  pro- 
tection on  the  voyage.  In  a small  basket  he  carried  some 
bread  and  cheese,  a number  of  oranges,  and  a good-sized 
bottle  of  wine.  He  understood  that  food  was  furnished 
on  the  ship,  but  it  might  not  be  good,  and  anyway  it  was 
just  as  well  to  be  on  the  safe  side.  Quite  a number  of  the 
other  young  men  and  boys  of  the  village,  and  one  or  two 
older  men,  were  going  on  the  same  steamer,  and  the  party 
made  quite  a Httle  cavalcade  as  they  started  out  to  walk 
to  Tripolis,  where  they  were  to  take  the  train,  their  goods 
loaded  on  donkeys  which  trotted  along  ahead  of  them. 
This  kept  Costa  from  feeling  as  lonesome  as  he  otherwise 
would  have,  and  the  excitement  of  the  coming  voyage 
almost  drowned  the  feeling  of  homesickness  that  tried  to 
rise  in  his  bosom  as  he  kissed  his  mother  and  sisters  good- 
bye. 

The  trip  to  Patras  was  uneventful.  The  trains  were 
full  of  people  talking  about  America.  Some  of  the  pas- 
sengers had  been  there  before — you  could  tell  them  by  their 
queer,  flat,  square-cornered  valises,  their  different  clothes, 
and  their  easy,  prosperous  appearance.  They  reached 
Patras  on  Saturday  evening,  and  put  up  at  one  of  the 
many  cheap  hotels  in  which  the  city  abounds.  In  the 


94 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


morning,  Costa  went  with  the  others  to  the  steamship 
office  to  see  what  he  needed  to  do.  First  of  all,  they  took 
his  name,  age,  and  the  name  of  his  village,  and  measured 
his  height,  and  noted  the  color  of  his  hair  and  eyes,  and 
asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  been  in  prison.  All  these 
things  and  more,  were  put  down  on  a piece  of  paper. 
Then  they  told  him  that  he  must  bring  his  baggage  around 
to  their  warehouse  and  deposit  it  to  be  disinfected.  Then 
there  would  be  nothing  to  do  until  the  day  of  sailing,  when 
he  must  come  around  for  the  inspection.  So  Costa  at  once 
went  around  to  the  hotel  and  got  his  big  valise  and  carried 
it  on  his  shoulders  to  the  warehouse  where  it  was  deposited 
on  a shelf  along  with  many  others.  The  man  in  charge 
pasted  a red  piece  of  paper  on  the  end  of  it  and  gave 
Costa  the  duplicate,  telling  him  to  keep  it  with  all  care. 
Costa  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  strolling  around  the  city, 
watching  the  novel  sights  of  the  seaport,  strange  to  the 
eyes  of  the  inland  boy,  and  using  up  a part  of  the  money 
that  his  mother  had  given  him  to  carry  in  his  pocket,  in 
purchasing  from  some  of  the  push-cart  men,  who  thronged 
the  streets  around  the  steamship  office,  some  little  things 
that  he  thought  he  might  not  be  able  to  buy  satisfactorily 
in  America — a key-ring  and  chain,  some  socks,  a pair  of 
scissors  and  a little  mirror  and  comb  in  a leather  case,  in 
the  interest  of  his  budding  mustache.  He  gave  the  gam- 
bling games  a wide  berth,  having  received  some  wholesome 
instructions  on  this  point  from  his  mother  before  he  left. 
He  stopped  for  a moment  to  watch  a street  dentist  who 
was  operating  in  a carriage  on  one  of  the  street  corners 
in  the  midst  of  a large  crowd,  but  the  sight  did  not  please 
him  and  he  passed  on. 


95 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


The  next  morning  he  was  up  bright  and  early  so  as  not 
to  get  left.  The  ship  had  not  come  in  yet  and  so  he  wan- 
dered around,  not  getting  far  away  from  the  steamship 
office  which  was  the  headquarters  of  all  his  friends.  When 
noon  came  and  the  ship  had  not  arrived  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  anxiety  among  the  prospective  passengers. 
Finally  an  announcement  was  made  from  the  steamship 
office  that  the  boat  would  not  be  in  until  about  five  o’clock 
the  next  morning,  and  that  if  they  would  all  come  around 
at  six  o’clock  that  evening  they  would  be  given  two 
drachmas  each  to  pay  for  their  lodging  that  night.  Costa 
scarce  dared  leave  the  office  all  that  afternoon  for  fear  he 
should  not  be  there  when  the  distribution  took  place. 

He  was  up  bright  and  early  the  next  morning  and  was 
standing  on  the  end  of  the  pier  when  the  great  ship  sailed 
in.  She  seemed  to  Costa  the  biggest  thing  he  had  ever 
seen.  When  he  could  tear  himself  away  from  looking  at 
her  he  went  around  to  the  office  to  be  inspected.  He 
found  a great  throng  gathered  around  the  door.  Men 
were  being  allowed  to  enter  slowly,  but  it  seemed  as  if  there 
was  no  chance  that  he  would  ever  be  able  to  get  in.  He 
noticed  a number  of  men  counting  over  American  money, 
which  he  recognized  at  once  as  he  had  often  seen  his  mother 
take  it  out  from  the  letters  from  America.  This  reminded 
him  that  he  had  not  yet  changed  his  own  money  and  he 
ran  off  at  once  to  do  it.  But  he  met  with  considerable 
difficulty.  The  first  four  money  changers  that  he  went 
to  said  that  their  American  money  was  all  gone.  But 
finally  he  found  one  who  had  two  five  dollar  bills  and  ten 
ones,  which  was  just  what  Costa  needed.  So  he  went  back 
to  the  office,  much  relieved.  It  was  now  getting  along 
towards  noon,  and  the  crowd  had  thinned  out  somewhat. 


96 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


The  boat  was  scheduled  to  sail  at  five  and  so  Costa  thought 
that  he  had  plenty  of  time. 

Outside  of  the  office  was  a sort  of  gate  which  a man 
opened  every  little  while  and  allowed  fifty  passengers  to 
come  inside.  Costa  waited  his  turn  and  by  and  by  was 
admitted  within  the  gate.  He  found  himself  in  the  end 
of  a narrow  alley-way,  enclosed  by  an  iron  railing,  down 
which  the  emigrants  were  moving  in  single  file.  Just 
ahead  of  him  was  a man  of  about  thirty-five  whom  he  rec- 
ognized as  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  in  America.  This 
man  took  charge  of  him  and  explained  the  different  occur- 
rences as  they  went  along.  First  of  all  they  came  to  a 
man  who  examined  their  money  and  their  tickets.  Costa 
showed  his  twenty  dollars  and  was  allowed  to  pass,  but 
the  boy  just  behind  him,  who  had  only  twelve  dollars,  was 
sent  back,  with  the  brusque  query,  “Can’t  you  find  some- 
body to  give  you  a little  more  than  that  ? ” Ahead  of 
him  he  saw  the  men  rolling  up  their  right  sleeves  to  the 
elbow  and  so  he  rolled  up  his.  Almost  before  he  knew  it  a 
man  seized  his  hand  and  held  it  while  he  dipped  a little 
steel  needle  in  a sort  of  hquid  in  a glass  watch  crystal,  and 
then  scratched  his  arm  with  it.  He  asked  his  guide  what 
that  was  for  and  was  told  that  it  was  vaccination,  to  keep 
him  from  having  the  smallpox.  In  another  part  of  the 
room  he  saw  a few  women  being  examined.  They  had  been 
allowed  to  come  in  out  of  the  regular  order  so  that  they 
might  not  have  to  wait.  There  were  very  few  women  in 
the  crowd.  Costa  passed  along  the  alley  until  near  the 
end  he  saw  another  big  man  standing.  He  asked  his  guide 
who  that  was,  and  was  told:  “That  is  the  doctor.  The 
company  pays  him  to  examine  all  their  passengers  and  see 
if  they  will  be  allowed  to  enter  America,  for  if  they  bring 


97 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


over  any  who  are  not  admissible  they  must  not  only  bring 
them  back  free,  but  must  pay  a fine  of  $100  for  each  one.” 

By  this  time  Costa  was  under  the  doctor’s  hands.  He 
turned  up  his  eyelids,  examined  his  scalp,  and  felt  of  his 
abdomen  to  see  if  he  had  hernia,  so  the  man  ahead  told  him. 

The  doctor  found  Costa  sound  and  he  was  allowed  to 
pass  on.  Behind  a desk  sat  a couple  of  men.  One  of 
them  took  Costa’s  ticket  and  stamped  “Vaccinated”  on 
it ; the  other  took  him  by  the  wrist  and  stamped  a little 
triangular  mark  on  it,  telling  him  that  that  showed  that 
he  had  been  through,  and  was  all  ready  to  start  for  Amer- 
ica. Just  as  Costa  was  about  to  leave  the  room  he  heard 
the  doctor  say  “Respinto”  and  saw  a look  of  disappoint- 
ment pass  over  the  face  of  the  man  he  had  just  examined. 

“What  does  ‘Respinto’  mean.'’  ” Costa  asked  his  friend. 

“That  means  that  the  man  appears  to  have  some  dis- 
ease, probably  trachoma,  and  that  he  must  wait  and  have 
a special  examination,  and  perhaps  will  not  be  alloAved  to 
go  to  America  at  all.” 

“Do  many  have  to  go  back  that  way?  ” asked  Costa. 

“Not  very  many,”  replied  his  friend.  “You  see,  the 
agents  in  the  villages  examine  them  before  they  send  them 
down  here,  and  most  of  those  who  could  not  be  admitted 
to  America  are  stopped  there.  The  agent  of  this  com- 
pany says  that  they  only  have  twelve  or  fifteen  cases,  out 
of  a shipload  of  passengers,  whom  they  will  not  take,  and 
only  two  or  three  from  each  ship  are  sent  back  from 
America.” 

By  this  time  Costa  was  outside.  He  went  around  to 
the  warehouse,  which  smelt  strongly  of  sulphur  fumes, 
presented  his  slip  of  paper  and  got  his  valise.  As  he 
stepped  outside,  however,  and  started  for  the  pier,  he  sud- 


98 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


denly  gave  a cry  of  consternation,  dropped  his  valise,  and 
stood  stock  still.  There  was  the  great  ship  sailing  down 
the  bay!  The  tears  sprang  to  his  eyes.  So  he  was  left 
after  all!  Oh,  why  hadn’t  he  taken  pains  to  get  around 
earlier  ? Slowly  he  picked  up  his  bag  and  walked  down 
towards  the  pier,  simply  because  he  did  not  know  what  else 
to  do.  But  look ! She  seems  to  be  turning  around.  Yes, 
she  is,  she  is  coming  back.  Costa  hurried  on  down  to  the 
pier  and,  seeing  some  one  whom  he  knew,  he  asked  what 
the  matter  was.  He  was  told  that  a sudden  squall  had 
come  up  and  that  the  ship  had  pulled  up  one  of  the  moor- 
ing posts,  and  had  to  put  out  into  the  bay  to  keep  from 
blowing  on  to  the  other  ships  in  the  harbor.  Costa  was 
much  relieved,  and  waited  patiently  until  two  or  three 
hours  later  the  ship  came  back  inside  the  breakwater  once 
more.  Then  he  got  into  one  of  the  small  boats,  provided 
by  the  company  and  flying  their  flag,  and  was  carried  out 
to  the  gangway  of  the  big  ship.  Shouldering  his  valise 
once  more  he  climbed  up  to  the  top.  There  stood  a man 
in  uniform  who  examined  his  tickets  and  searched  his 
clothes  for  knives  or  firearms.  The  next  moment  he  was 
on  the  deck  of  the  ship.  He  followed  the  crowd  down  the 
narrow  stairway  into  the  body  of  the  ship,  where  he  was 
assigned  a bunk.  He  deposited  his  baggage  on  the  mat- 
tress, which  was  the  only  bedding  there,  and  went  up  on 
deck.  As  he  had  eaten  nothing  since  morning  he  was  very 
glad  when  he  saw  a steward  coming  with  a big  pail  of  stew 
and  some  tin  plates.  After  he  had  eaten  he  stood  about 
the  deck,  watching  the  trunks  and  boxes  being  loaded  and 
all  the  other  fascinating  sights  attendant  upon  the  de- 
parture of  a big  ship.  One  man  who  looked  different  from 
the  Greeks  and  seemed  to  be  a person  of  some  importance. 


99 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


attracted  his  attention.  On  inquiry,  he  learned  that  this 
was  the  American  consul,  who  had  come  on  board  to  see 
that  everything  was  all  right.  At  last,  about  nine  o’clock, 
the  big  whistle  blew,  the  big  ship  began  to  move,  slowly  at 
first  and  then  faster  and  faster,  and  Costa  realized  that 
he  was  really  started  for  America. 

The  first  day  out  was  very  rough,  and  Costa  spent  the 
whole  of  it  in  his  bunk,  wretchedly  seasick.  Practically 
all  of  the  other  passengers  around  liim  as  far  he  could  see 
were  in  the  same  condition,  some  a little  better,  some  worse. 
Costa’s  bunk  was  near  the  stern  of  the  ship  and  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  was  rising  and  falling  hundreds  of  feet  at 
a jump.  Every  once  in  a while  there  came  a horrid 
whirring  and  trembling  which  some  one  told  him  was  the 
propellers  going  out  of  the  water.  The  air  became  vile, 
and  the  steel  floors  filthy.  Occasionally  a ship’s  boy  came 
around  with  a pail  of  sawdust,  but  that  helped  little. 
Altogether,  it  was  a miserable  day,  and  Costa  wished  more 
than  once  that  he  had  never  heard  of  America. 

Late  in  the  evening,  however,  the  ship  seemed  to  quiet 
down,  and  before  he  knew  it  Costa  was  sound  asleep. 
When  he  woke  in  the  morning,  the  sea  was  as  smooth  as 
glass  and  the  deck  of  the  ship  was  as  steady  as  the  floor 
of  the  new  house  in  his  own  little  village.  Costa  found  him- 
self feeling  as  fine  as  ever,  and  put  in  the  day  examining 
the  ship.  He  was  an  attractive  little  lad,  and  was  allowed 
to  go  where  many  others  would  not  have  been.  Before 
the  day  was  over  he  had  become  well  acquainted  with  one 
of  the  Greek  seamen  on  board,  who  took  a great  fancy  to 
the  little  chap  and  spent  a good  deal  of  his  leisure  time 
talking  with  him,  and  even  allowed  him  to  accompany  him 
on  some  of  his  duties.  Costa  thus  acquired  many  inter- 


100 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


esting  facts  about  the  ship  and  its  passengers.  The  ship 
had  begun  her  voyage  at  Trieste,  and  there  were  on  board 
900  Slav  passengers  in  the  third  class,  in  addition  to  the 
thousand  Greeks  who  had  got  on  board  at  Patras.  The 
Slavs  were  mostly  in  the  forward  part  of  the  ship,  while 
the  Greeks  were  in  the  rear  and  central  portions.  The 
few  women  on  board  were  in  the  best  part  of  the  ship  near 
the  center.  The  whole  available  space  on  two  of  the  lower 
decks  of  the  ship  was  given  up  to  bunks.  This  part  of 
the  ship  was  filled  with  a sort  of  scaffolding  or  framework 
of  iron  pipes,  so  constructed  as  to  provide  two  tiers  of 
sleeping  places,  one  above  the  other,  with  just  room  enough 
for  aisles  so  that  the  passengers  could  get  to  their  bunks. 
There  were  no  springs  and  the  hard  mattresses  were  laid 
on  a sort  of  lattice  of  steel  straps.  Still,  Costa  was  not 
used  to  springs  and  he  did  not  mind  this  any.  One  day 
he  took  a little  tape  measure  which  he  had  in  his  pocket — 
one  of  his  purchases  from  a push-cart  man  in  Patras — 
and  measured  his  bunk.  He  found  that  it  was  six  feet  one 
inch  by  two  feet  one  inch.  The  edge  of  his  bunk  was 
eighteen  inches  above  the  floor.  There  was  a space  of 
twenty-eight  inches  between  his  bunk  and  the  one  above  it, 
and  then  forty  inches  more  up  to  the  roof.  This  gave 
Costa  plenty  of  room,  and  even  the  larger  men  were  not 
badly  crowded.  The  only  difficulty  was  that  each  pas- 
senger had  to  make  room  in  his  own  bunk  for  his  baggage. 
Many  of  the  men  hung  theirs  up,  tying  them  to  the  pipes 
of  which  the  scaffolding  was  made.  Every  bunk  in  the 
ship  was  occupied,  and  they  had  even  spread  mattresses 
on  some  of  the  closed  hatchways,  and  men  were  sleeping 
there. 

On  the  whole,  as  soon  as  his  seasickness  was  over,  Costa 


101 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


felt  very  comfortable  and  happy.  He  spent  a good  share 
of  his  time  on  one  of  the  decks  which  were  reserved  for  the 
third  class  passengers.  Occasionally  he  would  go  and 
sit  for  a while  in  the  “recreation  room,”  where  most  of  the 
passengers  spent  their  time.  But  this  was  always  crowded 
and  the  benches  which  ran  alongside  the  long  tables  were 
always  packed  with  men,  talking  and  playing  cards.  The 
room  was  full  of  tobacco  smoke  and  very  noisy,  and  Costa 
did  not  particularly  enjoy  it.  There  were  a number  of 
the  passengers  who  scarcely  left  their  bunks  from  one  day’s 
end  to  another,  but  just  lay  there  in  a sort  of  stupor. 
Only  a few  took  advantage  of  the  pleasant  outside  decks, 
except  on  two  occasions  when  the  ship  stopped  in  some  of 
the  Mediterranean  ports  for  a few  hours.  Then  every- 
body thronged  on  deck,  and  spent  the  time  dancing,  sing- 
ing and  playing  games.  Several  of  the  passengers  had 
musical  Instruments  with  them,  and  Costa  used  to  love  to 
hear  them  play  and  watch  the  men  dance,  though  of  course 
he  was  too  young  to  be  allowed  to  join  in. 

Costa  had  been  unusually  well  trained  in  matters  of 
cleanliness,  for  a Greek  boy,  and  he  was  disgusted  with 
the  slovenly  habits  of  some  of  his  fellow  passengers.  He 
used  to  smile  to  himself  when  he  heard  them  complaining 
that  it  was  not  a good  ship  because  it  smelled  so  bad,  for 
even  he  had  sense  enough  to  know  that  it  was  largely  their 
own  fault.  He  did  his  best  to  keep  himself  clean,  though 
there  was  no  great  opportunity  to  do  so.  But  the  smell 
of  the  toilet  rooms  was  awful,  and  Costa  dreaded  to  go 
past  them,  as  he  had  to  every  time  he  went  from  his  bunk 
to  the  deck. 

Another  thing  that  amused  Costa  was  to  hear  the  men 
complaining  about  the  food,  for  he  knew  that  the  majority 


102 


A SCENE  ON  BOARD  SHIP 


‘■'  v'>  ■'  ■' 


■■ 


V**- 

'r\  .';  '• 


■' '--  ‘”'1 


. ’ ' _ .ry'-'j! ' 

. . ’■  '■  .■^•-  Z 

...  *■  ,;.<vt.„a 

.•  ■*■•  V..  ■ .■  r 

•■  •-> 

■/,  '-^  " A 


.. 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


of  them  at  home  lived  on  bread  and  olives  and  cheese.  He 
rather  smiled  at  himself  when  he  thought  of  the  little  basket 
of  food  that  he  had  brought  with  him,  though  he  was  glad 
that  he  had  the  oranges.  But  on  the  whole,  the  food  was 
quite  as  good  as  he  had  been  used  to,  even  after  the  days 
of  prosperity  began.  Here  is  his  bill  of  fare  for  a week: 


Monday:  Breakfast,  Stew,  coffee,  bread 

Dinner,  Pea  soup,  meat  with  potatoes 
Supper,  Crackers,  stock-fish  with  potatoes 
Tuesday:  Breakfast,  Cheese,  coffee,  bread 

Dinner,  Macaroni  soup,  stewed  peas 
Supper,  Meat  with  potatoes,  walnuts 
Wednesday:  Breakfast,  Prunes,  tea,  bread 
Dinner,  Stew,  olives,  cheese 
Supper,  Stock-fish  with  potatoes 
Thursday:  Breakfast,  Sausages,  coffee,  bread 

Dinner,  Rice  with  oil,  boiled  meat 
Supper,  Spaghetti  in  broth,  meat  with  potatoes 
Friday:  Breakfast,  Tunny,  tea,  bread 

Dinner,  Pastry  in  broth,  meat  with  olives 
Supper,  Ragout  of  meat  with  potatoes 
Saturday:  Breakfast,  Herrings,  coffee,  bread 

Dinner,  Rice,  meat  with  beans 
Supper,  Macaroni  in  broth,  meat  with  cabbage 
Sunday:  Breakfast,  Cheese,  tea,  bread 

Dinner,  Bean  soup,  sardines  in  olive  oil 
Supper,  Rice  with  meat,  tunny  with  potatoes 


There  were  two  good  clean  kitchens  for  the  third  class, 
one  toward  the  bow  and  one  toward  the  stern.  The  cook- 
ing was  good,  and  Costa  kept  in  first-rate  health. 

The  voyage  was  in  the  main  uneventful.  Most  of  the 
men  still  spent  their  time  below  deck,  either  in  the  recrea- 
tion room,  or  in  their  bunks.  Some  read,  many  played 

103 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


cards,  all  talked.  Those  who  had  been  in  America  before 
were  besieged  with  questions  in  regard  to  the  landing,  the 
possibility  of  being  rejected,  the  climate  in  America,  the 
probable  date  of  arrival,  etc.  A few  who  knew  a little 
English  borrowed  American  magazines  from  the  first-class 
passengers  who  occasionally  came  down  to  the  lower  deck. 
Most  of  the  men,  however,  spent  a good  share  of  their  time 
lying  or  sitting  around  in  a sort  of  semi-stupor,  appar- 
ently indifferent  to  the  length  of  the  voyage  and  almost 
everything  else  except  their  food. 

But  about  the  tenth  day  out  Costa  found  himself  grow- 
ing restless  and  impatient.  The  novelty  of  the  sea  had 
worn  off  and  he  was  getting  anxious  to  see  land  and  most 
of  all  to  reach  his  brothers  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  so 
long.  The  monotony  was  broken  for  him  in  a way  he 
would  hardly  have  desired.  One  rather  rough  day  he  was 
descending  one  of  the  slippery  iron  stairways  when  the 
ship  gave  a sudden  lurch.  Costa  lost  his  hold  on  the  rail- 
ing and  was  thrown  violently  to  the  deck  beneath.  The 
next  thing  he  knew  he  found  himself  lying  between  two 
clean  sheets  in  a nicely  painted  room,  with  a man  in  uni- 
form bending  over  him,  whom  he  recognized  as  the  ship’s 
doctor.  He  soon  learned  that  he  was  in  the  third-class 
hospital,  and  it  was  so  clean  and  nice  that  he  almost  wished 
that  he  could  stay  there  until  the  end  of  the  voyage. 
There  were  about  fifteen  other  men  in  the  room.  Costa 
was  told  that  there  was  another  hospital  just  like  it  for 
the  women  on  the  other  side  of  the  ship. 

His  injury  proved  to  be  only  a temporary  one,  and  the 
next  day  he  was  on  deck  again  as  well  as  ever.  He 
learned  that  he  had  missed  one  rather  interesting  occur- 
rence. The  day  before,  all  the  third-class  passengers  had 


104 


SOURCES  AND  MEANS  OF  EMIGRATION 


been  made  to  pass  in  single  file  before  the  purser  while 
their  tickets  were  examined.  Those  who  had  been  passed 
got  a good  deal  of  amusement  poking  fun  at  the  others  as 
they  came  along.  One  miserable  stowaway  had  been 
found,  half-starved,  in  one  of  the  coal  bunkers. 

The  remainder  of  the  voyage  passed  without  event  and 
Costa  was  more  than  glad  when  early  one  morning  his 
sailor  friend  pointed  out  a misty  spot  of  something  way 
ahead  on  the  horizon  and  told  him  that  that  was  America. 
The  ship  reached  its  dock  about  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon. Costa,  along  with  the  other  third-class  passengers, 
was  hurried  onto  a steam  barge  which  lay  waiting  and 
carried  across  the  bay  to  Ellis  Island,  about  which  he  had 
heard  so  much  from  the  men  on  the  ship.  The  numerous 
iron-railed  alleyways  through  which  he  had  to  pass  re- 
minded him  of  the  steamship  office  in  Patras,  only  every- 
thing here  was  so  much  grander  and  on  an  infinitely  larger 
scale.  He  answered  all  the  questions  asked  him  bravely 
and  truthfully,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  found  him- 
self standing  once  more  on  the  deck  of  a barge,  on  his  way 
back  to  the  city,  which  loomed  so  wonderful  and  magnifi- 
cent and  fascinating  in  the  distance.  His  railroad  ticket 
was  pinned  to  his  coat  lapel,  and  he  was  in  a group  of 
about  fifteen  other  Greeks,  all  bound  for  Chicago.  He 
followed  their  guidance,  and  the  next  thing  he  knew  he 
was  in  a railroad  car  that  seemed  to  him  immense,  and  was 
whirling  away  through  the  darkness  toward  the  great 
western  city  where  his  brothers  were  awaiting  him. 
Everybody  had  been  kind  to  him,  and  while  as  yet  every- 
thing seemed  terribly  confused,  and  his  mind  was  in  a sort 
of  daze,  he  felt  that  America  was  an  even  better  country 
then  he  had  hoped  for,  and  he  was  well  content  to  be  here. 


105 


PART  II 

THE  GREEKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


'Al 


CHAPTER  VI 


Statistical  Review 

UP  to  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  Greek 
immigration  into  the  United  States  was  not  of 
sufficient  volume  to  be  called  a movement.  (See  Table  6.) 
Not  until  1891  did  the  figures  reach  1,000,  and  during  the 
nineties  they  did  not  rise  above  2,500.  But  with  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  for  the  reasons  enumer- 
ated in  the  preceding  pages,  this  current  of  immigration 
began  to  increase  by  leaps  and  bounds.  For  the  three 
consecutive  years,  1905-06-07,  it  approximately  doubled 
annually,  reaching  in  the  last  year  the  climax  of  46,283. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  how  long  this  ratio  of  increase  would 
have  maintained  itself  had  not  the  crisis  of  1907  inter- 
vened to  check  it.  As  it  was,  Greek  immigration  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1908,  fell  to  28,808,  a decrease 
of  41  per  cent  from  the  preceding  year,  as  compared  with 
a decrease  of  39  per  cent  of  the  total  immigration  to  this 
country  for  that  year.  This  slackness  continued  during 
the  winter  of  1908-09.  But  with  the  reviving  of  trade  in 
the  United  States,  the  emigration  movement  took  on  a new 
lease  of  life  and  the  spring  of  1909  bade  fair  to  be  the  live- 
liest in  the  emigration  business  from  Greece  since  the  incep- 
tion of  the  movement.  On  the  first  two  days  of  March, 
1909,  two  ships  of  a certain  steamship  line  carried  from 
Patras  1,500  Greek  emigrants  bound  for  New  York.* 

* This  promise  was  not  verified  for  the  whole  year  1909,  nor  has 
the  record  of  1907  been  quite  reached  even  in  1910. 


109 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


The  figures  referred  to  give  only  the  number  of  Greek 
immigrants  admitted  to  this  country  in  the  respective 
years.  To  gain  an  accurate  idea  of  the  number  of  Greeks 
in  this  country  in  any  year  it  is  necessary  also  to  know 
the  number  who  have  returned  to  their  homes  from  year 
to  year.  This,  unfortunately,  it  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine. Only  within  the  last  three  years  have  the  reports 
of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  given  the 
necessary  data.  The  steamship  companies  keep  no 
records  of  the  number  of  steerage  passengers  whom  they 
bring  back  to  Greece.  Even  if  they  did,  these  figures 
would  be  inconclusive,  for  the  returning  Greeks  come  in 
driblets,  half  a dozen  or  a score  at  a time,  and  by  a great 
variety  of  routes.  They  come  by  direct  lines  to  Patras 
and  the  Piraeus;  they  come  by  way  of  Naples,  or  across 
France,  or  through  Switzerland  and  Italy,  or  even  by  way 
of  Germany.  It  is  difficult  to  get  a steamship  agent  even 
to  make  an  estimate  of  the  proportion  between  the  depart- 
ing and  returning  emigrants.  Mr.  Horton’s  reports  state 
that  from  the  best  sources  available,  not  over  1,500  returns 
may  be  set  down  as  the  figure  for  the  year  1907.  The 
Commissioner-General’s  report  for  1908  gives  the  number 
of  departures  during  that  year  as  6,763.  But  this  was 
an  exceptional  year.  From  the  number  of  Greeks  one 
meets  in  Greece  who  have  been  in  the  United  States  the 
number  of  returns  must  be  considerable.  Perhaps  the 
ratio  of  one  tenth  of  the  admissions  of  a given  year  comes 
as  near  expressing  the  number  of  returns  as  any  we  could 
hope  to  get.  Adopting  this  ratio,  and  applying  it  to  the 
figures  given  in  the  table,  the  Greek  population  of  the 
United  States  for  the  last  ten  years  would  be  approxi- 
mately as  follows : 


110 


STATISTICAL  REVIEW 


1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 


8,655 

13,983 

21,287 

34,226 

45,589 

56,519 

77,334 

118,989 

141,034 

154,359 

184,907 


The  tendency  for  Greeks  is  usually  to  over-estimate  the 
number  of  their  countrymen  in  the  United  States.  As 
much  as  two  years  ago,  some  said  150,000;  others  put  the 
figure  at  200,000  or  even  300,000.  An  interesting  basis  of 
comparison  may  be  found  in  two  books,  to  which  we  will 
have  frequent  occasion  to  refer.  They  are  the  Thermopylas 
Almanac,  1904,  by  John  Booras,  and  the  Greek- American 
Guide,  1909,  by  S.  G.  Canoutas,  both  printed  in  Greek  and 
published  in  New  York  City.  They  contain  a variety  of 
information,  statistical  and  otherwise,  of  interest  to  the 
actual  or  prospective  Greek  resident  of  the  United  States. 
The  former  volume  (see  Table  8)  gives  the  Greek  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1904  as  67,241.  Of 
these,  43,609  (through  a mistake  in  addition  the  figure  in 
the  book  is  43,241)  are  assigned  to  various  cities  and 
states.  The  balance  are  said  to  be  working  on  various  rail- 
roads and  in  factories.  This  balance  is  doubtless  much 
over-estimated.  Cutting  it  down  radically  will  bring  this 
estimate  within  the  neighborhood  of  the  figure  given  above. 
The  Greek- American  Guide  (page  25)  estimates  the  num- 
ber of  Greeks  in  the  United  States  at  160,000,  but  in  a 
short  article  in  English  on  a later  page  (page  357)  among 
other  shocking  inaccuracies  the  statement  is  made  that 


111 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


“the  total  number  of  Greeks  throughout  the  United  States 
is  conservatively  estimated  at  a quarter  of  a million.”  It 
is  only  justice  to  say  that  this  short  English  article  is  the 
only  part  of  the  book  that  contains  such  glaring  absurd- 
ities. The  rest  of  the  volume  appears  to  be  carefully 
compiled  and  soberly  written.  For  the  year  1909,  150,000 
would  probably  come  very  near  to  the  number  of  Greeks 
in  the  United  States. 

Tables  9,  10,  11  and  12  give  a sort  of  statistical  picture 
of  the  condition  of  Greek  immigrants  on  their  arrival  in 
America,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  immigration 
authorities.  Several  striking  features  attract  the  atten- 
tion at  once.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  these  is  the 
very  high  proportion  of  males,  ranging  with  surprising 
constancy  around  96  per  cent.  This  means  that  Greek 
immigration  is  not  in  any  sense  an  immigration  of  families, 
but  almost  entirely  of  unmarried  men,  or  of  men  of  family 
who  have  left  their  wives  on  the  other  side.  There  is  no 
means  of  determining  how  these  two  classes  compare  in 
numbers,  but  it  is  probable  that  they  are  approximately 
equal.  This  high  proportion  of  males  is  a very  important 
fact,  and  is  accountable  for  many  of  the  unfortunate  con- 
ditions that  affect  Greek  society  in  this  country.  There  is 
a slight  improvement  in  this  respect  in  the  last  three  years, 
though  the  decrease  may  be  partly  due  to  the  industrial 
situation  in  this  country.  Greek  women  who  come  to 
America,  come  for  the  most  part  to  join  husbands  who 
have  established  themselves  in  business  on  this  side.  Hence 
their  movements  are  not  so  much  affected  by  depressed 
industrial  conditions  as  those  of  the  men  whose  living  is 
dependent  on  their  finding  work.  For  purposes  of  com- 
parison, the  following  percentages  are  given  for  some  of 


112 


m 


IMMIGRANTS  ON  BOARD  (THE  MAN  WITH  THE  LONG  OVERCOAT  HAS  BEEN  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  THREE  YEARS) 


STATISTICAL  REVIEW 


the  other  leading  races  of  immigrants,  chosen  from  the 
year  1907  in  preference  to  1908,  as  being  a more  normal 
year. 

Percektage  of  Males,  1907. 


Germans  .......  60.4 

Hebrews  .......  53.9 

Italians  (north)  ......  79.4 

Italians  (south)  .....  78.7 

Scandinavians  ......  63.9 

Bulgarians,  Servians,  Montenegrins  . . 97.2 


From  these  figures,  and  similar  ones  not  quoted  for 
other  races,  it  is  evident  that  while  all  the  more  recently 
immigrating  races  show  a considerable  preponderance  of 
males,  there  is  none  of  the  leading  peoples  that  even 
approaches  the  Greeks  in  this  respect  with  the  exception 
of  the  Bulgarians,  Servians  and  Montenegrins,  by  whom 
they  are  exceeded. 

Another  striking  fact  about  the  Greek  immigrants,  in 
which,  however,  they  resemble  other  recently  immigrating 
races,  is  the  very  large  proportion  in  the  middle  age 
groups,  between  fourteen  and  forty-five.  This  includes 
nearly  the  entire  body  of  Greeks.  Of  the  small  remainder, 
the  greater  part  are  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age. 
Their  number  averaged  a little  less  than  10  per  cent  of 
the  total,  until  1903,  when  there  was  a sudden  decrease. 
This  is  a decidedly  large  proportion  of  children  when  we 
consider  that  there  is  practically  no  family  emigration. 
They  are  for  the  most  part  boys  imported  under  the 
padrone  system  (see  page  172)  and  the  sharp  decline  in 
1904  probably  represents  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the 
government  officials  to  check  this  practice.  Greek  immi- 


113 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


grants  of  forty-five  and  over  are  a negligible  quantity. 
Like  the  sex  distribution,  the  age  distribution  has  an 
important  bearing  on  several  phases  of  Greek  life  in  this 
country. 

Whether  the  literacy  or  illiteracy  of  a group  of  immi- 
grants is  a matter  of  importance  or  not  depends  on  one’s 
conception  of  the  function  of  the  immigrant  in  this 
country.  If  we  adopt  the  idea,  which  is  probably  the  pre- 
vailing one  in  the  United  States,  that  the  business  of  the 
immigrant  is  to  do  the  hard  and  menial  work  of  the 
country  which  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  a native  Ameri- 
can, then  perhaps  the  more  dull,  stolid  and  devoid  of 
ambition  or  culture  the  foreigners  are,  the  better  it  will 
be,  provided  only  they  have  sturdy  bodies  and  humble 
spirits.  In  fact,  under  our  present  system- — or  lack  of 
system- — of  handling  the  immigrants,  the  class  of  aliens 
which  has  the  hardest  time  to  get  along  comprises  those 
of  a moderate  education,  clerks,  bookkeepers,  mediocre 
musicians  and  the  like,  who  are  unable  or  unwilHng  to  do 
the  hard  work  of  the  country,  and  are  unable  to  meet  the 
competition  of  native  Americans  in  the  lines  of  occupation 
to  which  they  have  been  trained  in  foreign  countries.  But 
if  we  hope  to  make  true  American  citizens  of  the  new- 
comers, to  imbue  them  with  the  ideals  and  spirit  of  this 
country,  to  fit  them  to  take  an  active  place  in  the  higher 
and  varied  departments  of  our  national  Hfe,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  those  who  have  had  the  ability,  the  energy 
and  the  opportunity  to  secure  a moderate  amount  of 
education  in  their  home  land  make  better  material  for  our 
purposes  than  the  opposite  class.  At  least,  the  degree 
of  illiteracy  of  a people  is  usually  taken  as  an  indication 
of  their  intellectual  quality,  and  often  of  their  desirability 


114 


STATISTICAL  REVIEW 


as  citizens,  and  for  this  reason  it  may  be  of  profit  to  make 
some  comparisons  in  this  respect  between  the  Greeks  and 
a few  other  typical  nationalities.  A glance  at  Table  9 
will  show  that  in  1900  the  percentage  of  Greek  immi- 
grants who  could  neither  read  nor  write  was  about  16.3. 
In  the  next  year  it  suddenly  sprang  to  23.6,  the  following 
year  to  27. "I,  when  it  fell  off  again  and  remained  in  the 
neighborhood  of  23  until  1907  when  there  was  another 
sudden  rise  to  30.0  and  in  1908,  27.6.  Comparing  this 
with  five  of  the  other  leading  races,  we  find  that  the  total 
percentage  of  illiteracy  for  all  the  immigrants  of  those 
nationalities,  for  the  years  1900-08  inclusive,  was  as  fol- 
lows: Germans,  4.2  per  cent;  Hebrews,  19.4  per  cent; 
North  Italians,  10.4  per  cent ; South  Italians,  49.7  per 
cent ; Scandinavians,  0.4  per  cent.  It  is  thus  evident  that 
while  the  Greeks  are  much  superior  to  the  South  Italians, 
they  are  decidedly  inferior  to  the  northern  races,  and  to 
the  Hebrews.  We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  there  was 
a good  deal  of  truth  in  the  statement  of  the  old  Greek 
that  the  compulsory  education  law  in  Greece  is  “not 
always  applied.” 

Mr.  Prescott  F.  Hall  in  his  book  on  “Immigration” 
gives  a good  deal  of  space  to  the  discussion  of  the  illit- 
eracy test  as  a proposed  measure  of  legislation.  Whether 
or  not  such  a restriction  is  desirable  is,  as  we  have  inferred 
above,  largely  a matter  of  individual  opinion.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  would  have  considerable  effectiveness 
in  cutting  down  the  mere  bulk  of  immigration,  if  that  is 
an  end  to  be  sought. 

The  matter  of  the  amount  of  money  shown  is  of  com- 
paratively small  importance.  Immigrants  as  a rule  show 
only  so  much  money  as  they  think  is  necessary  to  get  them 


115 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


through.  Table  10  is  presented  only  as  a matter  of 
incidental  interest,  and  not  as  furnishing  any  particular 
criterion  of  the  financial  status  of  Greek  immigrants  on 
their  arrival. 

The  figures  showing  the  number  of  immigrants  who  have 
been  in  the  United  States  before  are  of  much  greater 
interest.  If  the  ratio  of  returns  which  we  have  adopted 
above  (see  page  110)  is  correct,  it  becomes  evident  that 
the  number  of  Greeks  who  return  to  their  native  land  to 
remain  permanently  is  very  small  indeed. 

Table  11  gives  the  number  of  Greek  immigrants 
debarred,  with  the  reasons . therefor,  the  number  relieved 
in  the  hospital,  and  the  number  returned  after  one,  two 
or  three  years  under  the  various  provisions  of  the  law. 
We  see  that  the  per  cent  of  debarred  for  the  nine  years 
ranges  between  the  minimum  of  1.0  per  cent  in  1902,  and 
4.3  per  cent  in  the  succeeding  year.  Comparing  these 
percentages  with  the  per  cent  of  the  total  immigration 
debarred,  given  in  the  same  table,  we  see  that  the  per- 
centage of  Greeks  debarred  is  much  above  the  average — 
from  two  to  five  times  as  great.  If  we  compare  them 
with  the  five  nationalities  which  have  been  chosen  as  a 
basis  of  comparison,  we  find  them  considerably  inferior 
to  each,  even  to  the  South  Italians.  The  percentages 
of  debarred  for  these  nationalities  for  the  nine-year 
period,  1900-1908,  are  as  follows:  Germans,  0.7  per  cent; 
Hebrews,  0.9  per  cent;  North  Italians,  0.5  per  cent;  South 
Italians,  1.3  per  cent;  Scandinavians,  0.2  per  cent.  The 
principal  causes  of  debarment  for  the  Greeks  were  pauper- 
ism or  likelihood  to  become  a public  charge,  loathsome  or 
dangerous  contagious  diseases,  and  contract  labor,  the 
first  class  being  tbe  most  important  for  all  the  years  of 


116 


STATISTICAL  REVIEW 


the  span  except  1906,  when  it  was  surpassed  by  contract 
labor. 

As  far  as  the  evidence  of  these  statistics  goes  there 
seems  to  have  been  a steady  decline  in  the  quality  of  Greek 
immigration  during  the  nine  years  in  question.  This  is 
what  might  be  expected  from  the  considerations  dis- 
cussed on  page  86. 

This  indication  is  sustained  by  the  figures  for  the 
general  classification  by  industries,  which  are  given  in 
Table  12.  Here  there  is  an  almost  steady  increase  in  the 
proportion  of  unskilled,  from  66  per  cent  in  1900  to  91 
per  cent  in  1907,  with  a slight  drop  to  87  per  cent  in  1908. 
The  proportion  of  laborers  has  steadily  gained  over  the 
farm  laborers.  It  seems  probable,  however,  that  this 
should  be  taken  as  an  indication  that  the  Greeks  are 
learning  to  answer  these  questions  with  reference  to  the 
work  they  expect  to  do  in  this  country,  rather  than  that 
there  is  any  difference  in  the  sources  from  which  they 
come.  Greek  immigrants  still  come  almost  entirely  from 
the  peasant  or  agricultural  class. 

The  Greeks  are  a decidedly  gregarious  and  clannish 
lot,  and  tend  to  herd  together.  This  fact,  in  connection 
with  their  occupations,  tends  to  lead  them  into  city  life. 
According  to  the  census  of  1900,  out  of  the  8,564;  Greeks 
in  continental  United  States,  6,34!0,  or  74;. 2 per  cent, 
were  in  cities  of  25,000  or  over.  This  is  a much  larger 
proportion  than  for  the  total  foreign-born  in  this  country, 
of  whom  4;7.3  per  cent  were  in  cities  of  25,000  or  over  in 
1900.  It  is  also  a larger  percentage  than  for  any  single 
one  of  the  leading  foreign-born  nationalities,  the  nearest 
approach  to  it  being  in  the  case  of  those  born  in  Russia 
(mostly  Jews),  of  whom  73.4;  per  cent  were  in  cities  of 


117 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


the  specified  size.  Over  half  of  the  Greeks  in  the  United 
States  in  1900  (4,770)  were  in  seven  cities,  Boston, 
Chicago,  Lowell,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco 
and  Savannah,  and  nearly  half  (4,005)  in  the  three  cities 
of  Chicago,  Lowell  and  New  York.  This  concentration 
is  not  so  marked  at  present. 

On  the  other  hand,  also,  the  Greeks  do  not  tend  to 
stagnate  in  the  Atlantic  coast  states  as  much  as  some  of 
the  other  nationalities,  particularly  the  Italians.  Chicago 
has  always  been  one  of  the  most  important  Greek  settle- 
ments. Now  they  are  becoming  scattered  throughout 
the  cities  in  all  the  states  of  the  Union,  and  individuals 
are  continually  breaking  away  from  the  group  and  set- 
tling in  the  smaller  cities  and  towns,  so  that  today  it  is 
almost  the  exception  to  find  even  a small  town  that  does 
not  have  its  representatives  of  this  race.  We  have  esti- 
mated (see  page  111)  that  in  1904  there  were  45,589 
Greeks  in  this  country.  Of  these,  according  to  Table 
8,  compiled  from  the  Thermopylae  Almanac,  43,607  were 
in  276  cities  in  forty-nine  states  and  territories.  As 
remarked  above,  these  figures  are  probably  all  somewhat 
exaggerated,  but  they  are  as  near  accurate  as  we  could 
hope  to  get.  Table  13,  copied  from  the  Greek- American 
Guide  for  1909,  gives  the  number  of  Greeks  in  the  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  United  States.  (G.-A.  Guide,  page  359.) 

On  account  of  the  fact  already  mentioned,  that  practi- 
cally every  Greek  immigrant  knows,  before  he  starts,  just 
what  place  in  America  he  is  going  to,  the  statistics  in 
regard  to  the  destination  of  Greek  immigrants  are  more 
varied  and  at  the  same  time  more  reliable  than  those  for 
many  other  nationalities.  They  are  presented  in  Table 
14.  The  interesting  thing  about  these  figures  is  the  way 


118 


STATISTICAL  REVIEW 


in  which  the  immigration  to  several  of  the  states,  such 
as  New  Hampshire  and  Wisconsin,  started  only  a few 
years  ago  with  practically  nothing,  and  has  grown  to  a 
very  considerable  stream.  This  shows  the  effects  of  the 
“chain-letter”  system,  particularly  in  the  case  of  New 
Hampshire,  where  the  Greeks  are  very  largely  congre- 
gated in  the  one  city  of  Manchester. 

From  the  foregoing  statistical  study  it  appears  that 
the  Greeks  are  remarkable  in  several  respects,  namely,  in 
the  high  proportion  of  males,  reaching  almost  100  per 
cent;  in  the  very  large  proportion  in  the  middle  age 
groups ; in  the  number  of  boys  under  fourteen ; in  the 
percentage  debarred  and  in  the  decided  tendency  to  city 
life.  All  of  these  factors  have  an  important  bearing  on 
their  economic  and  social  condition  in  this  country,  to  the 
study  of  which  we  now  proceed. 


119 


CHAPTER  VII 


Greek  Colonies  in  the  United  States 

T)  EFORE  undertaking  the  discussion  of  the  life  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  United  States,  it  will  be  helpful  to  give 
a brief  description  of  what  is  known  as  the  “Greek  Ortho- 
dox Community.”  The  extreme  loyalty  of  the  modern 
Greek  to  the  formal  worship  of  the  national  church  has 
already  been  noticed.  As  soon  as  a few  Greeks  get 
together  in  some  city  or  town  in  this  country,  one  of  the 
first  things  that  they  think  of  is  the  estabhshment  of  a 
place  of  worship.  This  is  accomplished  by  the  organiza- 
tion of  an  orthodox  community,  which  is  not  usually  under- 
taken until  the  number  of  Greeks  in  the  locahty  reaches 
300  or  400.  This  community  is  organized  as  a society 
and  usually  embraces  practically  all  of  the  Greeks  in  the 
locality.  It  has  its  officers,  president,  secretary,  treas- 
urer, etc.,  and  various  committees.  The  dues  are  some- 
times regular  and  sometimes  voluntary.  While  the 
primary  purposes  of  this  organization  are  religious,  such 
as  the  securing  and  support  of  a priest,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  a place  of  worship,  it  also  serves  various  social 
and  fraternal  ends.  To  avoid  confusion,  the  word  “com- 
munity” hereafter  will  be  used  to  designate  such  an  organi- 
zation, while  a mere  aggregation  of  a number  of  Greeks 
in  any  locality  will  be  termed  a “colony.”  Owing  to  the 
prevalence  of  these  communities,  combined  with  the  general 
clannishness  of  the  Greeks,  it  is  possible  to  get  very  accu- 
rate and  detailed  data  along  certain  lines,  regarding  the 

120 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


Greeks  in  this  country.  The  presidents  and  secretaries 
of  these  organizations  are  usually  well  informed  as  to  the 
number  and  occupations  of  the  members  of  their  communi- 
ties, and  the  information  which  they  will  furnish  in  regard 
to  these  points  is  more  accurate  than  the  investigator 
could  hope  to  obtain  in  any  other  way.  In  regard  to 
certain  other  classes  of  information,  however,  their  state- 
ments must  be  taken  with  a good  deal  of  caution,  for  as  a 
rule  they  are  unwilling  to  make  any  statements  which  will 
tend  to  cast  discredit  on  their  countrymen.  Some  of 
these  communities  are  incorporated  under  state  laws. 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  years,  as  a result  of  the 
efforts  of  the  Greek  ambassador,  Mr.  Coromilas,  there  has 
been  organized  a national  community,  called  the  Pan- 
Hellenic  Union,  combining,  or  supposed  to  combine,  all 
the  societies  in  the  United  States.  Among  the  purposes 
of  this  organization  as  stated  in  its  constitution  are  the 
following : the  defense  of  Greek  interests  and  rights  among 
foreign  nations,  the  “establishment  of  Phil-Hellenism  in 
America” (!),  and  the  teaching  of  all  Greeks  how  to 
respect  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
to  learn  lessons  from  this  great  country  and  bring  benefit 
to  themselves.  It  is  said  that  half  the  dues  collected  by 
this  organization  are  to  be  used  in  helping  Greek  immi- 
grants to  get  started  in  this  country  and  the  other  half 
in  assisting  the  oppressed  Greeks  in  Macedonia.  This 
national  organization  has  by  no  means  met  with  the 
unanimous  approval  of  the  Greeks  of  this  country,  partly 
because  they  regard  it  as  an  infringement  on  that  per- 
sonal liberty  which  they  regard  as  an  essential  of  Ameri- 
can life,  and  partly  because  the  ambassador  is  not  held 
in  the  highest  esteem  by  some  of  the  most  intelligent  citi- 


121 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


zens  of  that  country  which,  as  one  of  them  said,  “he  is 
misrepresenting  in  Washington.” 

In  taking  up  the  study  of  Greek  life  in  this  country  we 
will  adopt  the  plan  of  giving  first  a brief  description  of 
some  of  the  most  important  and  characteristic  Greek- 
American  colonies,  and  then  proceeding  to  a more  general 
discussion  of  the  various  phases  of  the  topic  from  a 
national  point  of  view. 

The  two  most  characteristic  colonies  are  those  of 
Chicago  and  Lowell,  the  former  representing  the  predomi- 
nant class  of  settlements  where  the  Greeks  are  mainly 
established  in  independent  business,  the  latter  that  smaller 
class,  to  which  such  other  cities  as  Lynn,  Salem,  Haverhill 
and  Fall  River,  Massachusetts,  and  Nashua  and  Manches- 
ter, New  Hampshire,  belong,  where  the  majority  of  the 
Greeks  are  employed  in  large  manufacturing  estabhsh- 
ments  under  the  direction  of  Americans.  The  colony  of 
New  York,  while  larger  than  either  of  these,  is  less  com- 
pact and  localized,  and  holds  a less  prominent  place  in  the 
organization  of  the  city. 

The  Greek  Colony  of  Chicago. 

Five  years  ago  if  a visitor  to  Chicago  had  alighted 
from  a Blue  Island  Avenue  street  car  at  Polk  Street, 
and  had  wandered  around  the  neighborhood,  along  these 
two  streets  and  South  Halsted  and  Ewing  Streets,  he 
might  almost  have  imagined  that  he  was  in  Italy.  The 
stores,  the  houses,  the  people,  the  sights  and  sounds  all 
would  have  suggested  a distinctly  Italian  character. 
Within  the  space  of  five  years,  an  ethnic  revolution  has 
been  worked  in  this  district,  until  today  it  is  just  as  dis- 
tinctively Greek.  Here,  in  the  section  of  which  Hull 


122 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


House  is  the  social  center,  are  gathered  the  greater  part 
of  the  15,000  Greeks  who  call  Chicago  their  home.* 

Taking  all  things  into  consideration,  Chicago  is  prob- 
ably the  oldest  and  most  important  Greek  colony  in  the 
United  States.  Here,  too,  the  Greeks  have  developed  their 
characteristic  industries  to  the  fullest  extent.  Yet  the 
Greek  invasion  of  Chicago  is  comparatively  a recent  thing. 
In  1882  there  were  very  few  Greeks  in  the  city,  not  enough 
to  have  a community  of  their  own.  But  they  united  with 
the  Slavs  to  form  the  “Graeco  Slavic  Brotherhood,”  and 
secured  a Greek  priest. f For  the  next  eighteen  years  the 
colony  grew  very  slowly,  and  in  1900,  according  to  the 
census  figures,  there  were  only  1,493  Greeks  in  the  city. 
But  with  the  increase  in  Greek  immigration  which  marked 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  Greek  popula- 
tion of  Chicago  augmented  rapidly.  In  1904  there  were 
7,500  Greeks  in  the  city,  and  in  1909  about  15,000,  of 
whom  12,000  may  be  considered  permanent  residents,  and 
the  balance  transients,  who  come  and  go,  according  as  they 
may  have  work  in  the  city  or  on  the  railroad  lines  in  the 
states  further  west. 

As  the  Greeks  became  more  numerous  they  began  to  do 
what  they  do  in  almost  every  city  where  they  form  con- 
siderable settlements — they  invaded  the  Italian  section  and 
drove  the  Italians  out  of  their  homes  and  out  of  their  busi- 
nesses. The  district  which  has  been  mentioned,  around 
Blue  Island  Avenue  and  Polk  and  South  Halsted  Streets, 
is  today  more  typically  Greek  than  some  sections  of 
Athens.  Practically  all  the  stores  bear  signs  in  both 
Greek  and  English,  coffee-houses  flourish  on  every  corner, 

* Hull  House  Maps. 

fG.-A.  Guide,  p.  199. 

123 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


in  the  dark  little  grocery  stores  one  sees  black  olives,  dried 
ink-fish,  tomato  paste,  and  all  the  queer,  nameless  roots  and 
condiments  which  are  so  familiar  in  Greece.  On  every 
hand  one  hears  the  Greek  language,  and  the  boys  in  the 
streets  and  on  the  vacant  lots  play,  with  equal  zest,  Greek 
games  and  baseball.  It  is  a self-sufficing  colony,  and  pro- 
vision is  made  to  supply  all  the  wants  of  the  Greek  immi- 
grant in  as  near  as  possible  the  Greek  way.  Restaurants, 
coffee-houses,  barber-shops,  grocery  stores  and  saloons  are 
all  patterned  after  the  Greek  type,  and  Greek  doctors, 
lawyers,  editors  and  every  variety  of  agent  are  to  be  found 
in  abundance.  As  an  indication  of  how  thoroughly  Hel- 
lenized  this  district  is,  the  following  list  of  Greek  business 
establishments  is  given,  all  found  on  Blue  Island  Avenue 
in  the  one  block  between  Polk  and  Ewing  Streets,  and  the 
two  short  blocks  between  Polk  Street  and  Gurley  Street : 

Meat  market  and  grocery. 

Coffee-house, 

Labor  agency. 

Importers  and  steamship  and  railroad  ticket  agents. 
Harness  maker. 

Tailor, 

Barber-shop, 

Row  of  two-story  tenements. 

Shoemaker, 

Harness  maker. 

Drug  store. 

Candy  and  tobacco  store,  and  pool  hall. 

Cognac  store. 

Restaurant,  grocery  and  saloon. 

Grocery, 

Barber-shop, 

Bakery, 


124 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


Coffee-house, 

Grocery, 

Tobacco  store. 

Coffee-house, 

General  store. 

Candy  kitchen, 

Coff  ee-house. 

All  of  these  are  distinctively  Greek,  and  of  the  few  remain- 
ing business  houses  in  these  blocks  several  others  are  prob- 
ably Greek. 

The  contrast  between  the  Greek  section  and  the  Italian 
quarter  by  which  it  is  bordered  is  very  marked.  The 
latter  is  much  more  crowded,  dirty  and  noisy.  Saloons  of 
a very  disreputable  appearance  take  the  place  of  the 
coffee-houses.  Here,  too,  children  are  much  more  in  evi- 
dence. In  the  Greek  section,  for  an  hour  or  so  after  six 
o’clock,  the  streets  present  a very  lively  appearance,  as  the 
drivers  and  peddlers  come  home,  unhitch  their  horses  and 
put  them  in  the  stables.  But  after  this  is  over  the  settle- 
ment quiets  down  and  the  side  streets  present  an  almost 
deserted  appearance.  Outside  of  the  coffee-houses,  the 
Greeks  have  very  few  recreations.  Theaters,  concerts, 
athletic  sports,  dance  halls  and  the  like  play  a very  small 
part  in  their  lives.  A few — about  seventy- five  in  1908 — 
join  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  principally 
for  the  athletic  advantages,  particularly  wrestling,  of 
which  they  are  very  fond. 

Of  the  15,000  Greeks  in  the  city  only  about  700  or  800 
are  women.  There  are  consequently  very  few  families,  and 
not  many  children,  probably  200  or  so.  This  gives  an 
unnatural  character  to  the  colony,  as  the  great  majority 
of  the  men  have  to  live  by  themselves  or  in  small  groups, 


125 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


and  either  get  their  own  meals  or  procure  them  at  a res- 
taurant. Very  few  of  the  Greeks  have  married  American 
girls. 

The  existence  of  a separate  Greek  community  dates 
from  the  year  1891.  It  is  now  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  Illinois,  and  has  about  4,000  regular  members. 
But  in  a sense  practically  all  the  Greeks  in  the  city  are 
connected  wdth  it,  for  they  all  belong  to  one  or  another  of 
the  twenty  smaller  societies  which  are  affiliated  with  the 
community.  The  purposes  of  these  smaller  organizations, 
of  which  the  richest  and  most  powerful  is  the  fruit  and 
candy  dealers,  are  benevolent,  fraternal  and  patriotic. 
They  give  lectures  about  once  a month  to  educate  their 
members  in  good  citizenship.  Every  Greek  in  the  city  is 
at  liberty  to  join  the  community,  but  there  is  a fixed  mem- 
bership fee  of  $2.  According  to  the  statement  of  the 
secretary  of  the  community,  any  Greek  who  commits  a 
crime  is  expelled  from  the  society  to  which  he  belongs,  and 
is  denied  admission  to  any  other. 

This  community  maintains  an  Orthodox  Greek  church, 
with  two  priests,  both  well  educated  and  holding  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Divinity  from  the  University  of  Athens. 
They  have  a small  regular  salary,  but  are  largely  sup- 
ported by  special  fees,  such  as  a fee  of  $25  to  $50  for 
performing  a marriage  ceremony.  The  church  build- 
ing is  located  at  34  Johnson  Street.  It  is  a brick  edifice 
with  a main  room  about  seventy-five  feet  by  thirty-six  feet. 
In  accordance  with  the  Greek  custom  there  is  no  provision 
for  seating  the  worshipers.  On  the  whole,  the  decorations 
and  fittings  of  the  interior  present  a rather  poor  and 
shabby  appearance  for  a Greek  church.  There  is  another 
Greek  church  at  1927  State  Street,  but  its  priest  got  into 


126 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


some  difBculty  with  the  religious  authorities  at  home  and 
it  is  not  now  recognized  by  the  Orthodox  church.  It  is 
said  that  the  community  has  recently  purchased  a good 
building  site  on  Polk  Street  for  a church  and  school,  at  a 
cost  of  $40,000,  most  of  which  has  been  paid. 

One  of  the  first  businesses  to  be  developed  by  Greeks  in 
Chicago  was  the  bootblacking  industry.  This  is  organ- 
ized under  the  padrone  system,  for  a description  of  which 
see  page  172,  and  has  attained  considerable  proportions 
until  now  the  Greeks  hold  a practical  monopoly  of  this 
business  in  the  city.  In  1904  there  were  but  three  shoe- 
shine  parlors  in  the  hands  of  Greeks  in  the  city.  Now 
there  are  nearly  fifty.  But  the  line  in  which  the  Greeks 
have  made  their  greatest  success  is  the  fruit  stores,  candy 
kitchens  and  ice  cream  parlors.  The  business  of  the  city 
along  these  lines  is  also  almost  entirely  in  their  hands.  In 
1904  there  were  five  fruit  stores  and  237  candy  kitchens, 
several  having  two  or  more  branches.  In  1908  there  were 
about  275  fruit,  candy  and  ice  cream  dealers,  several 
having  more  than  one  store,  besides  eleven  wholesale  fruit 
dealers  and  eight  ice  cream  manufacturers.  Flower  sell- 
ing is  sometimes  combined  with  these  businesses,  and  some- 
times carried  on  separately.  There  were  twelve  flower 
stores  in  1904  and  the  same  number  in  1908.  The  third 
main  line  of  business  which  occupies  the  attention  of  the 
Greeks  is  the  management  of  hotels  and  restaurants. 
These  are  of  two  kinds — those  catering  to  the  Greek  trade 
and  hence  conducted  on  the  Greek  plan,  and  those  pat- 
terned after  American  establishments.  Of  both  kinds 
there  were  in  1904  seventy-six  establishments,  and  in  1908, 
252.  As  each  of  these  establishments  employs  four  or 
five  helpers  it  is  evident  that  nearly  half  the  Greek  popula- 

127 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


tion  of  the  city  is  engaged  in  these  specialized  occupations. 
Aside  from  these  fixed  establishments  there  are  about  2,000 
itinerant  fruit  peddlers.  Some  of  these  are  said  to  make 
as  much  as  $10  or  $15  a day. 

The  other  principal  places  of  business  conducted  by 
Greeks  in  1908  were  the  following:  thirty-six  barber-shops, 
eleven  bakeries,  twenty-two  coflFee-houses,  eight  dry  goods 
stores,  thirty-one  groceries,  six  cigar  and  cigarette  manu- 
factories, nine  carpenters,  six  painters,  seven  moving  pic- 
ture establishments,  four  printers,  five  tailors,  thirteen  pool 
rooms,  six  hay  and  feed  stores,  four  milk  dealers,  six  har- 
ness makers  and  shoemakers,  three  underwear  manufac- 
turers, and  two  laundries.  There  are  four  newspapers 
published  in  Greek  in  Chicago,  all  weekly.  The  Greek 
Star,  Athena,  Hellas,  and  Loxias.  There  are  nine  Greek 
physicians  and  surgeons,  three  lawyers,  one  druggist, 
three  brokers’  offices,  two  teachers  and  three  poets ! 

We  have  thus  far  accounted  for  perhaps  two  thirds  of 
the  Greek  population  of  Chicago.  Of  the  remaining 
5,000,  probably  about  2,000  are  employed  in  Chicago  as 
day  laborers,  builders,  etc.,  or  in  the  factories  and  packing 
plants  and  the  other  3,000  are  transients,  finding  employ- 
ment from  time  to  time  on  the  railroads  of  the  Middle 
West,  for  which  Chicago  is  the  great  labor  market. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  criminal  tendencies  of  the  Greeks 
in  Chicago,  the  following  table  has  been  compiled  from  the 
police  records  of  the  city.  Such  other  foreign  nation- 
alities as  have  exceeded  the  Greeks  in  total  number  of 
offenses  are  also  included: 


128 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


SuMMAET  OF  Offenses  ako  Nativities  in  Chicago. 
1905. 


Felonies 

State 

Misde- 

meanors 

Violations 
of  City- 
Ordinances 

Total 

Greeks 

121 

142 

1,090 

1,353 

Germans 

630 

593 

3,912 

5,135 

Italians 

277 

378 

1,309 

1,964 

Irish 

225 

281 

2,526 

3,032 

Polanders 

547 

468 

3,027 

4,042 

Russians 

271 

212 

1,757 

2,240 

Swedes 

121 

no 

1,148 

1,379 

1906. 

Greeks 

148 

185 

1,084 

1,417 

Germans 

684 

815 

4,449 

5,948 

Italians 

306 

337 

1,420 

2,063 

Irish 

260 

344 

2,801 

3,405 

Polanders 

625 

664 

3,853 

5,142 

Russians 

295 

280 

2,168 

2,743 

Swedes 

152 

149 

1,347 

1,648 

1907. 

Greeks 

112 

132 

737 

981 

Bohemians  . 

138 

222 

749 

1,109 

Germans 

586 

629 

3,078 

4,293 

Italians 

255 

379 

982 

1,616 

Irish 

195 

245 

1,965 

2,405 

Polanders 

680 

907 

3,369 

4,956 

Russians 

340 

430 

1,310 

2,080 

Swedes 

119 

126 

1,035 

1,280 

These  figures  for  the  other  nationalities  are  of  rather 
slight  value,  as  in  the  absence  of  information  in  regard  to 
their  number  in  Chicago  in  the  different  years,  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  the  ratio  between  offenses  and  total 
population,  which  is  the  only  just  basis  of  comparison. 
In  the  case  of  the  Greeks  we  can  make  a fairly  accurate 


129 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


estimate  of  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  city  in  each 
of  the  three  years.  In  1904)  the  Greek  population  of 
Chicago  was  about  7,500  and  in  1908  about  15,000. 
Then  if  the  rate  of  increase  was  fairly  even,  the  total 
number  in  1905  would  be  about  9,000,  in  1906  it  would  be 
about  10,750,  and  in  1907  about  12,750.  Reckoning  on  the 
basis  of  these  figures,  in  1905  there  was,  on  the  average, 
one  violation  of  law  for  every  seven  Greeks  in  the  city; 
in  1906  two  offenses  for  every  fifteen  Greeks,  and  in  1907 
one  offense  for  every  thirteen  Greeks.  This  shows  a 
marked  improvement  in  the  matter  of  criminal  tendencies, 
though  the  fact  that  each  one  of  the  nationalities  given  in 
the  preceding  part  of  the  table  shows  a corresponding 
change,  less  marked  but  in  the  same  direction,  suggests 
that  perhaps  this  apparent  amelioration  may  be  in  part 
due  to  a change  in  the  city  administration  as  well  as  to  an 
improvement  in  the  character  of  the  population. 

A glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the  great  majority  of 
offenses  among  the  Greeks,  as  in  a less  degree  among  the 
other  nationalities,  are  violations  of  city  ordinances, 
among  which  disorderly  conduct  ranks  easily  first;  this 
class  of  offense,  together  with  the  offense  of  being  an 
inmate  of  a gambling  house,  makes  up  considerably  more 
than  half  of  the  violations  of  city  ordinances.  The  more 
serious  crimes  are  comparatively  rare  among  the  Greeks. 
Among  the  felonies,  the  principal  crimes  committed  by 
Greeks  are  larceny  and  larceny  by  bailee,  robbery  or 
burglary,  and  assault  with  intent  to  commit  murder. 
Among  the  state  misdemeanors  the  leading  crimes  are 
assault,  assault  with  deadly  weapons,  and  carrying  con- 
cealed weapons. 

There  has  been  a great  deal  of  suspicion  in  regard  to 


130 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


the  bootblacking  parlors  and  other  Greek  establishments 
that  boys  were  being  employed  under  the  legal  age  and 
worked  beyond  the  legal  number  of  hours.  Efforts  have 
been  made  to  determine  the  extent  of  this  evil  and  to 
correct  any  abuses,  and  a few  convictions  have  been  made 
(see  page  185)  but  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  testi- 
mony not  much  has  been  accomplished.  I was  told  at  the 
office  of  the  factory  inspector  that  they  found  very  few 
violators  of  the  factory  laws  among  the  Greeks.  The 
chief  probation  officer  of  the  Juvenile  Court  reported  that 
he  had  very  few  cases  of  delinquent  Greek  children.  There 
was  one  delinquent  boy  in  1906  and  four  in  1907. 

In  February,  1907,  a great  deal  of  indignation  was 
aroused  against  the  Greeks  of  Chicago  on  account  of  the 
alleged  abuse  of  young  girls  in  the  ice  cream  parlors  and 
fruit  stores  kept  by  them.  The  matter  was  thoroughly 
agitated  by  the  newspapers,  and  some  arrests  were  made. 
The  most  notable  case  was  that  of  Frank  Econamac,  who 
was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  fifteen  years  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. In  many  cases  when  an  arrest  was  made  for 
an  offense  of  this  kind,  the  complainants  failed  to  appear, 
the  supposition  being  that  they  had  been  bought  off 
in  the  meantime.  One  of  the  principal  accusers  was  the 
restaurant  inspector.  In  the  course  of  his  duties  he  had 
to  inspect  the  rear  and  basement  rooms  of  the  candy, 
fruit  and  ice  cream  establishments,  and  he  stated  that  in 
almost  every  case  he  found  evidences  of  the  prevalence  of 
systematic  abuse  of  young  girls.  (See  Chicago  Daily 
Journal,  February  20,  1907,  and  Chicago  Chronicle, 
February  19  and  26,  1907.)  The  Greeks  claim  that  much 
injustice  is  done  their  race  in  this  respect,  that  persons 
of  other  nationalities  are  reported  as  Greeks,  and  that  a 


131 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


single  offense  of  this  kind  is  made  the  basis  of  a whole- 
sale condemnation  of  the  race.  There  is  probably  a good 
deal  of  truth  in  this  assertion.  Yet  the  secretary  of  one 
of  the  societies  whose  business  it  is  to  investigate  just  such 
cases  as  this,  told  me  personally  that  in  his  opinion  the 
Greeks  were  very  culpable  in  this  respect,  and  that  evil 
practices  of  this  sort  were  characteristic  of  most  of  the 
fruit  and  ice  cream  stores  kept  by  them. 

When  we  turn  to  the  matter  of  dependence  we  find  a 
much  more  pleasing  and  creditable  state  of  affairs.  The 
evidence  in  this  department  is  almost  wholly  negative. 
The  Juvenile  Court  had  no  cases  of  dependent  Greek 
children  during  the  years  1906  and  1907.  The  main 
ofl5ce  of  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities  reported  that 
they  did  not  remember  a single  case  of  Greek  applicants. 
The  West  Side  District  of  the  Bureau  (in  the  Greek 
neighborhood)  has  had  only  two  or  three  cases  of  Greeks, 
and  the  Central  District  none,  except  an  occasional  lodg- 
ing house  case.  The  superintendent  of  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House  stated:  “I  will  say  that  we  have  had  very 
few  Greeks  at  the  Lodging  House  since  it  was  opened, 

about  seven  years  ago Since  the  depression  began 

(1907)  we  have  given,  to  July  1,  11,818  lodgings  to  as 
many  different  men.  I do  not  believe  there  were  a dozen 
Greeks  among  them.”  The  Orthodox  Community,  out  of 
abundant  funds,  spent  in  1907  only  $4*95.15  for  relief, 
and  up  to  the  end  of  August  had  spent  in  1908  about 
$900.  Greeks  have  a native  pride  which  deters  them  from 
seeking  public  assistance.  Those  in  Chicago  are  prac- 
tically all  self-supporting  or  have  some  private  means  of 
support,  and  if  for  any  reason  they  fall  into  need,  their 
friends  as  a rule  look  after  them. 


132 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


Greek  men  in  Chicago  are  said  to  enjoy  good  health, 
but  the  life,  or  the  climate,  or  the  combination  of  the  two 
is  said  to  be  very  hard  on  the  women,  causing  them  to 
suffer  a general  decline. 

The  Greek  Colony  or  Lowell. 

Lowell,  Massachusetts,  is  a decidedly  cosmopolitan  city. 
Only  about  50  per  cent  of  its  100,000  population  are 
English-speaking.  Of  the  balance  25,000  to  30,000  are 
French  and  French  Canadians,  3,000  Swedes,  several 
hundred  Norwegians,  2,200  Portuguese,  7,000  to  9,000 
Greeks,  2,500  Jews,  200  Armenians,  and  a great  mixture 
of  Russians,  Germans,  Austrians,  Belgians,  etc.  These 
have  come  almost  entirely  within  the  last  twenty-five 
years.* 

The  number  of  Greeks  in  this  motley  assemblage  has 
been  variously  estimated  at  from  7,000  to  10,000.  Prob- 
ably the  higher  number  is  nearer  the  correct  one.  Of 
these  about  7,000  are  men  and  boys  over  fourteen  years 
of  age,  2,000  are  women  and  girls  over  fourteen,  and  500 
or  so  are  children  under  fourteen.  These  have  all  come 
within  the  last  fifteen  years.  In  1900  there  were  about 
1,800  Greeks  in  the  city,  of  whom  fifty  were  women. 
There  were  about  thirty  families,  and  nearly  350  persons 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The  census  of  1905  gives 
1,694  Greek  males  and  326  females,  a total  of  2,020.t 

The  great  majority  of  the  Greeks  of  Lowell  come  from 
Mani  or  Laconia.  This  is  the  mountainous  central  and 
western  peninsula  of  Greece,  rocky  and  barren  in  the 
extreme.  It  takes  no  wizard  to  say  why  the  population 

* George  F.  Kenngott,  Housing  Conditions  in  Lowell. 
fDo. 


133 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


has  emigrated  from  there,  for  the  figure  of  the  peasant 
“wringing  a scant  subsistence  from  the  reluctant  soil”  is 
sternly  literal  here.  Only  by  the  most  careful  terracing 
can  olive  trees  be  made  to  grow  on  the  hillsides,  and  this 
is  the  only  district  of  the  Peloponnesus  where  the  vine  is 
not  cultivated.  The  inhabitants  of  this  region  claim  to 
be  the  purest  blooded  descendants  of  the  ancients  of  anj'^ 
of  the  modern  Greeks,  and  pride  themselves  on  their  lan- 
guage and  independent  spirit.  Unfortunately  they  still 
maintain  bloody  vendettas.  At  any  time,  vdthout  the 
slightest  warning,  a little  village  is  likely  to  be  disturbed 
by  a volley  of  revolver  shots.  Everybody  rushes  indoors, 
barricades  the  houses,  and  remains  within  for  a day  or  so 
until  the  excitement  is  over.  Among  the  other  Greeks, 
and  the  foreigners  living  in  the  kingdom,  the  Laconians 
have  the  reputation  of  being  a rather  reckless  and  turbu- 
lent lot.  Such  then  is  the  source  of  the  main  body  of  the 
Greek  population  in  Lowell.  But  there  are  now  repre- 
sentatives from  almost  every  part  of  the  Greek  world. 
Recenth^  ISIacedonians  have  been  coming  in  large  num- 
bers. 

The  Greek  colony  of  Lowell  is  probably  the  most  exclu- 
sive and  distinctively  Greek  settlement,  of  any  considerable 
size,  in  the  United  States.  It  centers  around  a stretch  of 
Market  Street  about  a quarter  of  a mile  long,  a district 
of  old  two-  and  three-story  wooden  buildings,  many  of 
them  apparently  contemporaneous  with  the  founding  of 
the  city.  In  this  quarter  practically  every  store  is  a Greek 
one  and  every  dwelling  house  is  inhabited  by  Greeks.  As 
in  Chicago,  if  anything  still  more  so  here,  the  conditions 
of  Greek  life  are  reproduced  with  the  greatest  fidelity 
possible.  There  are  the  same  queer  little  grocery  stores. 


134 


! 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 

the  same  dingy  restaurants,  the  same  close,  smoky  coffee- 
houses, with  here,  as  in  Greece,  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  a 
crowd  of  big,  lazy,  able-bodied  men,  loafing,  smoking  and 
playing  cards,  while  some  poor  child  toils  eight  or  ten 
hours  a day  to  support  them.  The  self-sufficient  nature 
of  this  colony  will  be  evidenced  by  the  following  list  of 
Greek  business  houses  and  business  and  professional  men : 
seven  restaurants,  twenty  coffee-houses,  twelve  barber- 
shops, two  drug  stores,  six  fruit  stores,  eight  shoe-shine 
parlors,  one  dry  goods  store,  four  ticket  agencies,  seven 
bakeries,  four  candy  stores,  twenty-two  grocery  stores,  five 
coal  and  wood  dealers,  eight  truckmen,  one  pool  room,  one 
flavoring  extract  factory,  one  wholesale  meat  dealer,  four 
physicians,  one  Orthodox  priest,  two  Protestant  ministers, 
three  milkmen,  five  farms  (owned  in  partnerships  of  four 
or  five  men  to  each  farm),  two  hundred  farm  laborers,  ten 
real  estate  owners,  one  real  estate  broker,  two  bankers, 
three  teachers.  The  large  number  of  coffee-houses  is  an 
impressive  witness  of  the  transplantation  of  Greek  customs 
to  this  country. 

The  living  conditions  among  the  Greeks  of  Lowell  have 
been  so  admirably  described  by  Mr.  Kenngott  in  the  article 
already  referred  to  that  I can  do  no  better  than  to  quote 
a number  of  paragraphs  verbatim  from  that  work.  The 
author  speaks  of  the  old  paternal  system  of  caring  for  the 
employees  which  used  to  be  in  vogue  among  the  great  cor- 
porations, but  which  has  now  been  largely  discarded  with 
the  result  that  rents  and  prices  have  gone  up,  causing 
several  families  to  crowd  into  houses  and  apartments  occu- 
pied, a few  years  ago,  by  one  family.  A few  of  the  cor- 
porations still  own  boarding  houses  which  are  kept  in  good 
sanitary  condition  and  rented  to  their  employees  at  low 


135 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


rates.  But  the  tenements  owned  by  real  estate  agents  are 
often  kept  in  inferior  condition,  while  the  rents  are  two  or 
three  times  as  high.  The  author  then  goes  on  to  say : 

“The  worst  housing  conditions  are  among  the  Greeks 

and  Syrians The  Greeks  live  largely  in  the  center  of 

the  city  in  very  old  wooden  buildings.  The  largest  tene- 
ment block  in  the  Greek  colony  is  at  the  corner  of  Market 
and  Jefferson  Streets.  It  contains  forty  rooms  with 
seventy-nine  inhabitants.  There  are  nine  tenements  in  the 
block.  This  building  is  new  with  modern  accommoda- 
tions, such  as  bath-rooms,  porcelain  bathtubs,  set  bowls 
and  tubs ; and  two  tenements  have  furnace  heat.  There 
are  back  verandas  for  drying  clothes.  Some  of  the  kitchens 
have  no  windows.  There  is  another  large  block  at  the 
corner  of  Market  and  Suffolk  Streets,  towards  Merrimack 
Street.  On  the  street  floor  there  are  several  stores  with  a 
pharmacy  at  the  corner.  This  block  consists  of  sixty-six 
rooms  with  eighty-eight  inhabitants  in  the  block.  There 
are  sixteen  rooms  having  no  windows.  In  the  back  yard 
there  are  ropes  running  from  wall  to  wall  for  the  drying  of 
clothes.  Each  tenement  has  running  water  for  drinking 
purposes,  for  washing  and  for  water-closet. 

“There  are  many  other  blocks,  probably  old  as  the  city 
itself,  which  are  in  very  miserable  condition.  Only  by  a 
personal  visit  can  one  understand  the  housing  conditions  of 
some  of  the  Greeks  and  Syrians. 

“In  the  old  wooden  buildings  they  are  crowded  in  close 
and  narrow  quarters,  with  three  or  more  in  a room,  little 
or  no  ventilation,  rooms  often  dark  without  windows,  no 
facilities  for  bathing,  no  opportunity  for  drying  clothes 
except  in  the  crowded  kitchen  and  with  toilet  facilities 
which  are  extremely  bad. 


136 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


“Many  of  the  Greeks  live  almost  like  an  army  on  the 
march,  having  a common  commissariat  and  living  in  pov- 
erty, filth  and  disease.  This  is  due,  in  large  part,  to  the 
fact  that  in  this  population  of  nearly  9,000,  6,500  are  men 
and  boys  over  fourteen  years  of  age.  A physician  was 
called  recently  to  attend  a Greek  woman  who  was  sick 
(and)  found  her  lying  on  a cot,  with  four  men  stretched 
out  asleep  on  the  floor.  I have  frequently  seen  five  and  six 
crowded  in  one  room  where  there  was  sickness,  and  scores 
coming  in  to  give  their  condolence.*  Worse  conditions 
can  hardly  be  imagined  than  in  certain  old  wooden  tene- 
ment houses  in  the  Greek  district.  ‘Bathtubs  and  bath- 
rooms are  unknown  to  the  Greeks,  in  this  section.’  (Rev. 
Panos  Ginieris.)  There  are  no  public  baths  and  no  bath- 
houses along  the  Merrimack  River  in  the  city.” 

No  careful  inspections  of  tenement  buildings  are  made  in 
Lowell.  “Some  of  the  old  buildings  in  this  section  should 
be  condemned,  or  radical  changes  made  at  once.” 

“As  one  goes  about  the  city  as  physician  or  clergyman, 
he  finds  that  the  poorer  and  more  ignorant  the  people  are, 

the  more  they  crowd  together  in  the  center  of  the  city 

Ordinarily,  there  are  more  abuses  of  this  kind  when  people 
first  come  to  a place  and  there  are  few  men  having  their 
wives  with  them.  Under  these  conditions  their  natural 
instinct  for  a home  and  all  it  implies  is  put  aside.  With 
this  lack  of  home  restraint  and  the  influence  of  the  women, 
there  follow  the  overcrowding  of  the  men,  a tendency  to 
slovenliness  in  the  care  of  the  apartments  and  many  social 
vices.  These  people,  who  have  been  brought  up  in  foreign 
countries,  have  little  knowledge  of  how  to  live  in  a sanitary 

* A national  custom.  A sick  room  is  usually  the  scene  of  a con- 
tinuous procession  of  relatives  and  friends. 


137 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


way.  This  may  be  due  partly  to  the  customs  of  their  own 
countries,  partly  to  thriftlessness,  and  again  to  the  fact 
that  in  Lowell  there  are  many  who  have  come  from  the 
farming  districts,  many  spending  the  greater  part  of  their 
lives  in  the  open  air  with  their  herds. 

“The  Greeks  have  been  and  still  are  to  some  extent  in- 
clined to  overcrowd,  and  many  of  them  are  inclined  to  be 
unsanitary,  more  particularly  in  using  their  hallways  and 
cellars  for  urinals.  Now  that  they  are  marrying  and 
establishing  homes,  their  houses  are  being  kept  in  better 
condition,  but  still  do  not  have  as  large  tenements  as  they 

should  for  the  number  of  people  that  occupy  them 

Some  of  the  Greeks  who  have  been  here  longest  have  estab- 
lished homes  in  the  suburbs,  have  invested  in  real  estate, 
and  have  neat  and  attractive  homes.  The  Greeks  promise 
to  make  a helpful  addition  to  the  city’s  population.” 

There  are  said  to  be  six  Greeks  in  Lowell  who  have 
American  wives,  fourteen  with  French  wives  and  four  with 
Polish  wives.  While  there  is  an  unusually  large  propor- 
tion of  females  among  the  Greeks  of  Lowell,  they  are  not  by 
any  means  all  wives.  Many  of  them  are  factory  hands, 
and  many  are  young  girls. 

Lowell  is  preeminently  a manufacturing  city,  and  the 
great  majority  of  the  foreign  peoples  who  contribute  to 
its  population  are  employed  in  the  various  mills  and  fac- 
tories. To  this  rule  the  Greeks  are  no  exception.  In  no 
other  city  in  the  country  are  there  so  many  Greeks  em- 
ployed in  factory  occupations  as  here.  Following  is  a 
statement  of  the  total  number  of  employees  in  some  of  the 
principal  manufacturing  establishments  with  the  number 
of  Greeks  among  them,  based  partly  on  Mr.  Kenngott’s 
figures  and  partly  on  personal  inquiries. 


138 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


Total 

Em- 

Greek Employees 

Factory 

ployees 

Male*  Female  Total 

Trenton-Suffolk  MiUs,  cotton  goods 

. 2,600 

425 

75 

500 

Lawrence  Mills,  knit  goods 

. 4,000 

400 

50 

450 

Merrimack  Mfg.  Co.,  cotton  goods  . 

. 3,000 

500 

68 

568 

Massachusetts  Cotton  Mills  . 

. 2,232 

268 

Hamilton  Mfg.  Co. 

. 2,055 

118 

Bigelow  Carpet  Co. 

. 2,050 

71 

Spaulding  & Swett  Co.,  slippers 

350 

200 

Federal  Shoe  Co  . 

505 

33 

Newport  Shoe  Co.  .... 

188 

16 

The  average  weekly  wage  in  these  mills  is  about  $9. 
Some  of  the  unskilled  workers  earn  only  $6  or  $7  per 
week,  while  some  of  the  skilled  workers  earn  as  high  as 
$15.  The  Greeks  are  mainly  employed  in  unskilled 
labor,  in  the  dye-house,  or  in  tending  machines,  such  as 
the  spinning,  weaving  and  carding  machines.  They  do  not 
display  any  particular  mechanical  ability,  and  very  few  of 
them  have  as  yet  advanced  to  positions  of  responsibility, 
such  as  overseers  or  foremen.  As  workers,  they  rank 
about  on  a level  with  the  other  nationalities  among  which 
they  work.  They  hold  to  their  positions  with  a fair  degree 
of  steadiness,  though  the  offer  of  a shght  increase  of  wages 
elsewhere  is  very  likely  to  cause  them  to  move.  When  they 
leave  a position  it  is  usually  of  their  own  volition ; they  are 
seldom  discharged.  They  are  amenable  to  discipline  and 
practically  never  cause  any  trouble  through  drunkenness. 

The  two  great  complaints  which  mill  agents  make 
against  the  Greeks  are  such  as  we  might  expect  from  our 
knowledge  of  two  of  their  principal  characteristics — fac- 
tiousness, and  fondness  for  exploiting  each  other.  Mill 
agents  testify  that  their  Greek  employees  are  very  apt  to 
form  into  small  groups  or  cliques,  and  while  there  is  seldom 
* Some  of  these  figures,  especially  in  regard  to  sex,  are  estimates. 

139 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


any  friction  between  the  Greeks  and  workers  of  other  races, 
these  little  cliques  are  constantly  getting  into  altercations 
with  each  other,  which  often  result  in  violence  and  blood- 
shed. It  is  impossible  for  the  employers  to  get  at  the  true 
cause  of  the  difference  and  sometimes  the  whole  lot  has  to 
be  discharged.  Greeks  who  have  just  come  to  the  city 
usually  secure  employment  through  the  agency  of  some  of 
their  friends  who  have  been  here  longer.  This  is  the  only 
feasible  way  of  getting  the  newcomer  and  the  employer 
together,  but  it  often  leads  to  abuses.  Some  Greek  who  has 
been  in  this  country  for  a short  time,  and  has  learned  a few 
words  of  English,  gets  hold  of  a green  immigrant  and  tells 
him  that  if  he  will  pay  him  $5  or  $10  (the  amount  varying 
with  the  gullibility  of  the  victim)  he  will  secure  him  a job 
in  the  mill  where  he  himself  is  employed.  The  transaction 
takes  place,  and  the  next  day  the  older  resident  takes  the 
newcomer  around  to  the  mill  and  tells  the  foreman  that  here 
is  a man  who  wants  a job,  and  if  the  mill  is  needing  workers 
he  is  taken  on.  The  mill  agents  do  all  in  their  power  to 
discourage  this  practice,  and  if  any  Greek  is  discovered 
engaging  in  it,  he  and  his  whole  crowd  are  dismissed.  The 
trouble  is  that  when  a man  has  secured  a position  in  this 
way  he  thinks  that  because  he  has  paid  for  it,  he  owns  it, 
and  If  he  is  discharged  for  inefficiency  or  for  any  other 
reason  he  thinks  that  an  injustice  has  been  done  him.  One 
mill  agent  told  me  that  the  greatest  benefit  that  could  be 
conferred  on  a crowd  of  incoming  Greeks  would  be  to  im- 
press them  thoroughly  with  the  idea  that  they  need  not 
pay  anybody  a cent  for  a job. 

The  factious  spirit  of  the  Greeks  is  especially  in  evidence 
in  Lowell.  It  crops  out  on  every  hand,  and  Greeks  are 
constantly  coming  into  court  with  dissensions,  which  defy 


140 


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GREEK  ORTHODOX  CHURCH,  LOWELL 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


the  judges  and  lawyers  to  get  at  the  real  root  of  the  diffi- 
culty, or  arrive  at  a just  solution.  As  usual,  this  spirit 
has  manifested  itself  particularly  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of 
the  church.  The  Orthodox  Community  was  organized 
about  1893.  A few  years  ago  it  was  decided  to  erect  a 
fine  new  church  building.  The  president  of  the  community 
at  that  time  was  a well-educated  Greek  of  fine  manners  who 
had  attained  quite  a high  position  in  Lowell  society.  When 
it  came  to  the  choice  of  a building  site  there  was  a division. 
One  party  had  a lot  in  view  which  had  much  to  recommend 
it,  but  the  president  advocated  another  site,  limited  in 
extent  and  of  poor  outlook,  because — so  said  the  other 
faction — there  was  more  graft  in  it  for  him.  Eventually 
the  president  and  his  party  prevailed,  and  building  was 
commenced  in  that  location.  But  the  dissatisfaction  in- 
creased and  presently  the  other  party  found  itself  in  power. 
It  was  too  late  to  change  the  building  site,  but  the  president 
was  deposed  and  another  man  elected  in  his  place.  The  old 
president,  however,  refused  to  give  up  the  books  and  the 
money,  and  the  matter  had  to  be  taken  into  court  before 
the  new  administration  could  get  affairs  into  its  own  hands. 
About  the  same  time  the  old  president  fell  under  suspicion 
in  regard  to  his  complicity  in  contract  labor  enterprises 
and  other  evil  practices,  and  rapidly  lost  his  prestige. 
The  bitter  feeling  caused  by  this  affair  permeated  the  whole 
Greek  society  of  Lowell,  and  has  by  no  means  subsided  up 
to  the  present  time.  This  story  has  been  introduced  at 
such  length  because  it  illustrates  so  forcibly  the  lack  of 
harmony  which  is  so  typical  of  Greeks  in  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  in  the  old  country. 

The  church  building  itself  progressed  finely  and  stands 
completed  today — undoubtedly  the  finest  edifice  belonging 

141 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


to  the  Greek  Orthodox  church  in  this  country.  Its  cost 
was  about  $76,000.  It  is  about  one  hundred  and  ten  feet 
by  fifty-one  feet  on  the  exterior,  built  in  the  modified 
Byzantine  style  which  is  characteristic  of  buildings  of  this 
order.  The  material  is  a fine  cream  colored  brick.  There 
are  two  small  domes  in  front  and  one  large  one  over  the 
center,  all  gilded  at  a cost  of  $2,000.  The  roof  is  of  slate. 
The  interior  is  beautifully  fitted  up  in  the  orthodox  style. 
The  windows  are  of  stained  glass  and  the  frescoes  are  of 
really  remarkable  excellence.  The  chandelier,  candelabra 
and  carved  mahogany  bishop’s  chair  are  all  of  the  finest 
workmanship.  The  church  is  lighted  with  electricity  and 
heated  by  steam.  There  is  a gallery  for  the  women.  In 
the  basement  is  a nicely  finished  room,  fitted  up  with 
seventy-two  desks  as  a school.  This  is  maintained  at  the 
expense  of  the  church,  with  the  main  purpose  of  cherishing 
the  national  feeling  for  Greece  in  the  hearts  of  the  rising 
generation.  There  are  two  teachers,  a Greek  man  and  an 
American  lady,  and  about  sixty-five  pupils,  both  boys  and 
girls. 

The  following  table  compiled  from  the  police  reports 
shows  the  criminal  record  of  the  Greeks  of  Lowell  for  the 
five  years  1904-1908,  inclusive.  For  purposes  of  compari- 
son the  figures  for  all  the  other  nationalities  given  in  the 
tables  are  also  included. 


Record  of  Arrests,  with  Nativities,  Lowell. 
Years  Ending  May  30. 


Nativity 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

United  States  . 

1,824 

2,205 

2,196 

2,101 

2,098 

Ireland 

807 

1,000 

1,039 

1,068 

1,050 

England 

317 

401 

376 

292 

257 

Scotland 

82 

117 

123 

93 

90 

142 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


British  Provinces 

598 

712 

638 

726 

737 

Greece  (Greeks) 

112 

158 

114 

138 

155 

Russia 

108 

184 

141 

168 

269 

Turkish  Empire 

17 

50 

21 

30 

6 

Germany 

14 

1 

Portugal 

17 

12 

Austria 

5 

Sweden 

18 

3 

France 

7 

13 

Norway 

4 

Italy 

4 

8 

Miscellaneous 

69 

88 

36 

42 

140 

Total 

3,934 

4,915 

4,684 

4,727 

4,839 

As  the  table  shows,  the  number  of  arrests  among  the 
Greeks  has  remained  fairly  constant  for  the  five  years.  As 
the  total  number  of  Greeks  in  the  city  has  been  increasing 
somewhat,  this  indicates  a degree  of  improvement  in  their 
criminal  record.  Taking  the  figures  given  on  page  133  as 
a basis  of  comparison,  we  find  that  in  1908  there  was  one 
arrest  among  the  Greeks  for  every  fifty-eight  of  the  total 
Greek  population,  among  the  Portuguese  one  out  of  every 
183,  of  the  Swedes  one  out  of  1,000,  and  if  we  assume  that 
90  per  cent  of  the  oflf^enses  credited  to  the  British  Provinces 
were  committed  by  French  Canadians,  their  proportion 
would  be  about  one  arrest  to  forty-two  total  population. 
Of  the  English-speaking  population,  native  and  foreign, 
the  proportion  is  about  one  arrest  to  fourteen  total  popu- 
lation, a result  to  which  the  Irish  contribute  very  largely. 
The  police  records  do  not  give  any  statement  as  to  the 
classes  of  offenses  for  which  the  different  nationalities  were 
arrested,  but  I was  informed  by  the  officials  that  arrests 
among  the  Greeks  are  almost  wholly  for  minor  offenses  such 
as  disorderly  conduct,  quarreling,  gambling  and  breach  of 
the  Sunday  observance  regulations. 


143 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Applications  for  relief  from  public  sources  are  few 
among  the  Greeks  in  Lowell.  The  principal  philanthropic 
organization  in  the  city  is  the  Ministry-at-Large.  Out  of 
a total  of  2,867  cases  assisted  by  this  organization  in  1907, 
sixty-five  were  Greeks.  The  reason  given  for  this  small 
number  is  that  the  Greeks  have  not  yet  “got  on  to”  this 
source  of  assistance.  It  is  said  that  if  they  knew  the  ropes, 
they  would  come  fast  enough.  One  Greek  of  considerable 
prominence  in  the  city  is  said  to  have  tried  to  increase  his 
prestige  among  his  people  by  acting  as  an  intermediary 
between  the  society  and  the  needy  individual.  But  as  he 
always  insisted  on  administering  the  relief  himself  in  per- 
son, the  society  became  suspicious  and  put  a check  on  his 
appeals. 

Taking  them  altogether,  the  Greeks  in  Lowell  hold  an 
unenviable  reputation  in  the  mind  of  the  average  American 
citizen  of  the  place.  On  the  whole  they  are  considered  a 
quarrelsome,  treacherous,  filthy,  low-living  lot.  Yet  this 
opinion  does  injustice  to  a large  proportion,  possibly  a 
majority  of  them.  There  are  many  Greeks  in  the  city 
who  are  just  as  fine  a type  of  citizen  as  one  could  hope  to 
find.  In  this  case,  as  in  so  many  others,  a dozen  noisy, 
turbulent,  disreputable  individuals  can  attract  more  atten- 
tion, and  make  more  of  an  impression  on  the  outsider’s 
mind,  than  a couple  of  hundred  who  go  quietly  about  their 
business,  say  httle,  and  stay  where  they  belong. 

In  general,  however,  conditions  are  probably  as  bad 
among  the  Greeks  of  Lowell  as  in  any  other  settlement  of 
that  people  in  the  country.  This  is  due,  partly,  to  the  fact 
that  the  majority  of  them  come  originally  from  a turbu- 
lent stock,  partly  to  the  fact  that  they  are  engaged  so 
largely  in  factory  occupations  instead  of  in  independent 


144 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 

business,  partly  to  the  fact  that  they  are  living  in  tenement 
conditions  in  a small  city,  without  proper  tenement  inspec- 
tion or  control.  The  miserable  living  and  working  condi- 
tions in  which  they  live  cause  a great  deal  of  disease  among 
them.  Tuberculosis  is  very  prevalent,  caused  by  the 
wretched  living  conditions  and  breathing  the  dust  of  the 
factories.  The  following  case  is  typical  of  hundreds.  A 
little  girl,  lying  sick  with  tuberculosis  in  the  hospital,  was 
visited  by  the  wife  of  one  of  the  Protestant  pastors,  who 
asked  her  how  she  contracted  the  disease.  The  child 
replied  that  at  the  age  of  twelve  she  entered  one  of  the 
mills,  at  the  instigation  of  her  father.  In  order  to  gain 
admittance  she  made  a false  oath  in  regard  to  her  age. 
The  hard  work,  close  confinement,  and  bad  air  were  too 
much  for  her,  and  she  contracted  the  dread  disease. 
Eventually  she  succumbed  to  it.  In  1906  this  disease  be- 
came so  prevalent  that  the  Board  of  Health  caused  a notice 
to  be  printed  and  circulated,  especially  in  the  Greek  sec- 
tion of  the  city,  stating  the  causes  of  tuberculosis,  and  the 
means  of  its  prevention.  Certain  regulations  in  regard  to 
the  ventilation  of  bedrooms  and  the  number  of  beds  in  each, 
and  the  provision  and  use  of  spittoons,  were  prescribed 
and  it  was  stated  that  any  violations  of  them  would  be 
prosecuted.  But  no  prosecutions  occurred  and  little  else 
was  done  about  the  matter.* 

The  ignorance  of  the  Greeks  in  this  colony  is  another 
cause  of  many  evils  and  abuses.  Particularly  is  this  true 
of  ignorance  of  the  English  language,  which  many  of  them 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  learn  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  are  placed.  A Greek  who  has  managed  to 
get  some  acquaintance  with  the  language  and  customs  of 
* Kenngott. 

145 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


this  country  has  a great  advantage  over  his  fellow  country- 
men and  most  of  them  are  not  slow  to  make  the  most  of  it. 
One  way  in  which  this  is  done  is  for  the  proprietor  of  a 
grocery  store  or  meat  market  to  go  to  a group  of  new- 
comers who  have  just  established  themselves  in  the  com- 
munity, particularly  if  they  are  Macedonians,  and  tell 
them  that  they  are  disobeying  some  of  the  laws  of  the  city 
and  that  if  they  do  not  purchase  their  provisions  of  the 
storekeeper  in  question  he  will  put  the  police  on  their  trail. 
The  poor  newcomers  know  of  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
comply.  The  provisions  sold  by  such  means  as  this  are 
said  to  be  vile  in  the  extreme.  Similar  abuses  in  the 
matter  of  securing  employment  have  already  been  noted. 

To  correct  these  evils  the  city,  through  its  Board  of 
Education,  is  making  every  effort  to  further  education 
among  the  foreign  element,  particularly  by  means  of  the 
system  of  evening  schools.  Of  these  there  are  sixteen, 
two  of  which  are  wholly  Greek,  and  one  other  mainly  so. 
Attendance  at  these  schools  is  compulsory  for  persons  of 
both  sexes  under  twenty-one  years  of  age  who  cannot  read 
and  write  English.  These  schools  are  held  four  evenings 
a week  for  nineteen  weeks.  In  1906-07  in  the  three  schools 
which  were  mainly  Greek  there  was  a total  average  attend- 
ance of  439  and  a total  enrollment  of  937.  In  1907-08 
in  two  Greek  schools  there  was  a total  average  attendance 
of  570.  To  secure  attendance  at  these  schools  a very 
wise  device  has  been  adopted.  Each  pupil  is  given  a card 
which  is  signed  week  by  week  with  a record  of  his  school 
attendance.  Unless  this  card  shows  a correct  record  for 
the  week  previous,  the  holder  cannot  secure  employment 
in  any  of  the  mills.  Almost  all  of  the  employers  give  their 
hearty  support  to  this  scheme,  and  the  loss  of  this  card 


146 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


is  a much  dreaded  misfortune.  The  withdrawal  of  this 
card  from  any  pupil  is  the  severest  punishment  in  vogue 
in  the  night  schools,  and  the  mere  threat  of  such  an  action 
is  usually  sufficient  to  secure  obedience.  If  a child  is  under 
fourteen  years  of  age  he  is  supposed  to  attend  the  day 
schools.*  But  there  is  great  difficulty  in  applying  this 
rule,  for  the  Greeks  are  inveterate  liars  when  it  comes  to 
matters  of  age — or  anything  else  that  will  interfere  with 
their  doing  what  they  want  to.  (For  a fuller  discussion 
of  the  problem  of  age,  see  under  the  padrone  system,  page 

m.) 

Another  very  commendable  effort  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions of  the  Greeks  in  Lowell  takes  the  form  of  a book 
of  Municipal  Regulations,  published  in  Greek  and  English 
and  distributed  freely,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Middle- 
sex Women’s  Club  of  the  city.  This  little  booklet  contains 
much  valuable  advice  in  regard  to  decent  and  sanitary 
living,  and  obedience  to  law. 

The  Greek  Coeony  of  New  York. 

The  New  York  colony  is  less  distinctive  and  centralized 
than  either  of  the  settlements  hitherto  described.  The 
characteristic  occupations  of  the  Greeks  here  resemble 
those  of  Chicago  rather  than  those  of  Lowell,  and  as  these 
business  houses  are  scattered  over  long  distances,  the  ten- 
dency is  for  the  Greeks  to  gather  in  several  small  settle- 
ments rather  than  for  all  to  collect  in  one  large  one.  On 
account  of  the  immense  size  of  the  metropolis,  also,  the 
Greeks  have  not  as  yet  impressed  themselves  so  distinctly 
on  the  industrial  organization,  nor  been  able  to  gain  the 

* If  a child  cannot  read  and  write  simple  English  he  must  attend 
the  day  school  until  he  is  sixteen. 


147 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


same  degree  of  control  of  their  typical  businesses,  as  in 
the  smaller  places.  At  the  present  time  there  are  in 
Greater  New  York  about  20,000  Greeks,  of  whom  12,000 
to  14,000  live  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  They  are 
almost  entirely  males.  From  40  to  50  per  cent  are  said 
to  be  married,  but  very  few  have  their  wives  with  them. 
The  Greek- American  Guide  (1909,  page  164)  says,  “The 
unmixed  Greek  families  in  New  York  number  about  150  to 
170,  and  the  mixed  families  are  few.”  As  a result  the  men 
have  to  live  in  the  manner  which  we  have  found  to  be  the 
characteristic  one  in  Chicago  and  Lowell.  A group  of 
men- — four  or  five,  or  even  a dozen — club  together  and  rent 
one  or  more  rooms  which  are  used  as  their  sleeping  and 
living  apartments.  The  meals  are  either  prepared  by  the 
men  in  their  rooms,  or  secured  at  restaurants  outside. 
True  home  life  is  practically  non-existent  among  them. 

There  are  three  main  centers  of  Greek  life  in  Man- 
hattan. One  of  them  centers  around  Madison  Street, 
between  Catherine  and  Pearl  Streets,  running  for  short 
distances  up  Roosevelt  Street,  Oliver  Street  and  other  side 
streets ; the  second  has  its  center  on  Sixth  Avenue,  about 
Thirtieth  Street,  and  extends  for  some  distance  both 
ways  on  Sixth  Avenue,  and  east  and  west  into  the  side 
streets ; the  third  is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city  around 
the  intersection  of  Thirtieth  Street  with  Second  and  Third 
Avenues.  Of  these  settlements  the  first  is  the  oldest  and 
the  most  typically  Greek.  On  the  whole  the  residents  are 
of  the  less  prosperous  class,  small  dealers,  push-cart  men, 
etc.  It  is  the  starting  place  of  the  newcomers,  so  that 
while  the  settlement  is  the  oldest,  the  settlers  themselves 
are  probably  more  recent  than  in  other  sections.  As  in 
Chicago,  the  Greeks  have  invaded  an  Italian  settlement 


148 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


and  are  slowly  displacing  the  earlier  inhabitants.  As  yet, 
however,  the  population  of  this  section  is  far  from  being 
wholly  Greek.  The  tenement  house  records  for  this  region 
show  a most  heterogeneous  collection  of  dwellers,  Irish, 
American,  Russian,  Itahan,  Chinese  and  others.  The 
business  houses,  however,  are  almost  entirely  Greek,  coffee- 
houses, groceries,  restaurants,  barber-shops,  importers’ 
establishments,  etc.  The  coffee-houses  are  as  exact  a 
reproduction  of  those  in  Greece — with  the  exception  of 
the  outdoor  features — as  one  could  hope  to  find.  There 
are  the  same  small  tables,  the  same  familiar  lithographs 
of  the  “Death  of  Patroclus,”  “The  Vengeance  of  Achilles,” 
“Byron  Taking  the  Oath  of  Allegiance,”  and  “King 
George  of  Greece.”  There  is  the  same  vile  atmosphere 
and  the  same  crowd  of  big,  able-bodied  loafers  with  appar- 
ently nothing  to  do  all  day  but  smoke,  drink,  play  cards 
and  talk.  And  as  in  Greece,  the  proprietors  and  waiters 
are  often  in  their  shirt  sleeves  and  collarless,  with  a decid- 
edly unkempt  appearance  in  general.  The  restaurants 
in  this  settlement  are  also  distinctively  Greek  in  appear- 
ance and  in  the  character  of  the  food.  The  tenement 
houses  in  this  district  are  old  and  many  of  them  very  un- 
desirable. Many  have  several  dark  rooms  on  each  floor. 
The  average  number  of  water-closets  is  one  to  two  or  three 
famihes,  but  some  have  no  inside  closets  whatever. 

The  Sixth  Avenue  settlement  is  much  more  American- 
ized. In  fact  the  casual  passer-by  would  hardly  notice 
any  evidences  that  he  was  in  the  midst  of  a Greek  district. 
The  residents  of  this  section  are  on  the  whole  more  pro- 
gressive and  engaged  in  larger  and  more  important  busi- 
nesses. The  smaller  colony  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
city  around  Second  Street  and  Third  Avenue  is  almost 


149 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


wholly  a residence  section,  and  except  for  one  or  two 
Greek  stores  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  it  is  settled  by 
this  race. 

The  Greek- American  Guide  gives  the  following  list  of 
business  firms  and  business  and  professional  men:  seven 
newspapers  and  periodicals,  ten  steamship  agents,  three 
real  estate  agents,  five  importing  and  exporting  mer- 
chants, six  physicians  and  surgeons,  thirty-seven  Greek 
produce  importers  and  groceries,  seventy  confectioners, 
twenty-six  tobacco  importers  and  cigarette  manufacturers, 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  florists,  forty-six  fur  dealers  and 
furriers,  eleven  wholesale  fruit  dealers,  sixty-two  retail 
fruit  dealers,  fifty-one  bootblack  parlors,  one  hotel  and 
restaurant,  sixty-seven  restaurants  and  lunch  rooms,  forty 
Greek  restaurants  and  coffee-houses,  thirty-two  Greek 
coffee-houses,  four  saloons,  two  photographers,  three 
teachers,  two  printers,  five  booksellers,  twenty-four  bar- 
bers, seventeen  tailors,  four  shoemakers,  five  bakers,  four 
Greek  candy  makers,  six  carpenters,  two  priests,  nine 
editors,  nine  miscellaneous.  In  Brooklyn  there  are  eight- 
een confectioners,  thirty-three  restaurants,  seven  fruit 
dealers,  and  ten  florists.  In  Coney  Island,  thirty-one 
hotels,  restaurants,  etc.  This  list  includes  only  separate 
establishments.  In  regard  to  the  number  of  people 
actually  engaged  in  the  different  trades,  from  information 
furnished  me  by  two  of  the  leading  Greeks  in  the  city,  the 
following  estimate  has  been  made:  confectioners,  1,250; 
florists,  650;  restaurants  (including  waiters,  dishwashers, 
etc.),  3,500;  fruit  dealers  and  peddlers,  2,000;  bootblacks, 
500.  These  figures  may  be  taken  as  fairly  accurate  for 
the  city  proper.  The  balance  of  the  Greek  population  are 
engaged  in  miscellaneous  trades  and  independent  busi- 

150 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


nesses.  There  are  few  Greek  factory  workers  in  New 
York,  outside  of  a small  number  employed  in  the  cigarette 
factories. 

One  of  the  first  trades  to  be  taken  up  by  the  Greeks — 
probably  the  very  first — in  New  York  was  the  florist  busi- 
ness. This  was  started  in  a small  way  as  a street  trade. 
As  different  men  prospered  they  would  rent  little  stores 
where  they  would  keep  their  stock,  and  hire  a number  of 
boys  to  do  the  selling  on  the  streets.  This  sort  of  trade  is 
well  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  Greeks,  and  they  have  pros- 
pered at  it.  The  confectionery,  restaurant  and  fruit  busi- 
ness followed.  In  the  bootblacking  trade  the  Greeks  are 
just  beginning  to  get  a foothold.  This  business  is  still 
practically  controlled  by  the  Italians  in  New  York.  In 
all  of  these  occupations  the  Greeks  have  on  the  whole  pros- 
pered. Common  peddlers  are  said  to  make  about  $600 
to  $1,000  per  year;  waiters  from  $500  to  $1,500;  boys  in 
bootblack  shops  from  $500  to  $800,  including  their  hving 
expenses.*  The  profits  of  men  in  independent  business  of 
course  vary,  just  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  business  men. 
There  are  a few  extremely  wealthy  Greek  firms  in  the  city, 
mostly  importers.  One  of  the  most  profitable  Greek  enter- 
prises in  the  city  is  the  Greek  Hotel  on  Forty-second 
Street,  opposite  the  Grand  Central  Depot. 

As  in  Chicago,  so  in  New  York,  the  Greeks  are  a negligi- 
ble factor  in  the  work  of  the  charitable  organizations  of 
the  city.  The  officials  of  the  Charity  Organization  So- 
ciety say  that  they  have  extremely  few  cases  of  Greeks. 
The  secretary  of  the  Bureau  for  the  Handicapped  could 
remember  only  one  Greek  case  in  many  years.  The  State 

* These  figures,  though  furnished  by  an  influential  Greek,  are 
probably  somewhat  exaggerated. 


151 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Board  of  Charities  from  January  1,  1906,  to  August  15, 
1907,  had  six  cases  of  Greeks;  five  were  removed  from  the 
Metropolitan  Hospital  and  sent  to  Greece,  and  one  from 
the  City  Hospital.  The  secretary  of  the  Bowery  Branch 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  says  that  he  has  very  few  applications 
from  men  of  this  nationality.  Wherever  inquiries  are 
made  the  same  answer  is  returned.  Neither  do  the  Greeks 
enter  into  the  life  of  the  social  settlements.  The  University 
Settlement  and  the  J acob  A.  Riis  Settlement  both  reported 
that  they  had  no  Greeks.  The  College  Settlement  has 
made  an  effort  to  get  hold  of  the  Greeks,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Six  years  ago  they  followed  the  example  of  Hull 
House  and  gave  a presentation  of  the  “Ajax”  with  Greek 
actors.  While  the  performance  itself  was  a grand  success, 
the  managers  had  a great  deal  of  trouble  in  getting  the 
“high  class”  and  “low  class”  Greeks  to  work  together  in 
harmonj^,  and  no  permanent  results  were  secured  in  the 
way  of  enlisting  the  interest  of  the  Greeks  in  the  work  of 
the  settlement. 

Outside  of  the  coffee-houses  the  Greeks  have  few  amuse- 
ments. There  are  no  athletic  clubs,  dance  halls  or  Greek 
theaters,  though  occasionally  a play  is  presented  in  Greek 
in  one  of  the  American  theaters.  The  social  life  of  the 
people  centers  almost  entirely  around  the  coffee-houses  and 
restaurants,  though  there  is  a Greek  political  club,  with 
Republican  affiliations,  on  Sixth  Avenue.  The  best  Greek 
restaurants,  of  a distinctively  foreign  type,  are  on  the 
central  streets  of  the  Sixth  Avenue  settlement.  At  these 
places  the  cooking  is  excellent  and  the  prices  very  moder- 
ate. A first-rate  meal,  consisting  of  soup,  roast  lamb, 
potatoes,  salad,  Greek  pudding  and  bread  may  be  secured 
for  thirty-five  or  forty  cents.  These  restaurants  are  pat- 


152 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


ronized  by  the  more  well-to-do  Greeks.  The  lower  class 
establishments  on  Madison  Street  have  even  more  reason- 
able rates.  The  Greek  takes  plenty  of  time  for  his  meals 
and  may  spend  a couple  of  hours  or  more  altogether,  smok- 
ing, drinking  his  black  coffee  and  chatting  with  his  friends. 
The  newspaper,  too,  plays  a large  part  in  this  entertain- 
ment, and  newsboys  are  continually  entering  and  calling 
out  their  different  journals. 

There  are  four  newspapers  published  in  New  York,  the 
Atlantis  and  the  Panhellenic,  daily;  the  Simaia,  semi- 
weekly; and  the  Paraxenos  (humorous),  bi-weekly.  Be- 
sides these  there  are  two  monthly  magazines,  the  Commer- 
cial Review,  and  the  Thermopylce.  Of  these  the  most 
important  is  the  Atlantis,  which  is  considered  the  authori- 
tative organ  of  the  Greek- American  people.  This  paper 
was  established  in  1894,  and  has  now  a circulation  of  about 
15,000  copies.  It  has  a busy  office  on  West  Thirty-first 
Street,  with  an  editorial  staff  of  five,  and  about  ten  em- 
ployees. One  important  department  is  that  of  book  sell- 
ing. Unfortunately  the  editor  does  not  command  the  uni- 
versal respect  that  his  influential  position  ought  to  carry 
with  it.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  there  are  many  scandals 
attached  to  his  past  life,  and  many  of  his  influential  fellow 
countrymen  are  very  bitter  against  him. 

The  Panhellenic,  a so-called  “independent”  daily,  was 
established  in  March,  1908.  The  general  relation  between 
it  and  the  Atlantis  is  one  of  bitter  rivalry.  In  this  con- 
nection a rather  racy  incident  developed  in  the  fall  of  1908, 
which  so  well  illustrates  the  inborn  spitefulness  of  the 
Greeks,  their  fondness  for  newspaper  vituperation,  and 
some  other  phases  of  their  character  that  it  seems  to  merit 
a small  space  here.  When  the  new  daily  was  founded  it 


163 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


secured  as  one  of  its  principal  officials  a certain  Mr.  Ekon- 
omidy,  who  had  been  employed  for  three  or  four  years  on 
the  staff  of  the  Atlantis,  and  left  it,  so  the  Panhellenic 
claimed,  bearing  a letter  of  recommendation  from  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  older  paper.  In  November,  1908,  the 
Panhellenic  announced  that  this  gentleman  had  started  on 
a tour  of  the  Greek  colonies  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
interests  of  his  paper.  In  regard  to  this  announcement, 
the  Atlantis  published  a scurrilous  paragraph  under  the 
headline,  “The  Kitchen  Bile  of  the  Cooks,”  which 
stated  that,  “In  the  independent  free  communal  daily  bill 
of  fare  of  the  cooks  of  Forty-second  Street,  the  one  written 
by  the  Hebrew  editor,  it  was  stated  that”  the  director  of 
its  office  had  started  on  a tour  of  the  interior  to  secure  sub- 
scribers. The  Greeks  of  the  country  were  asked  to  take 
note  that  he  had  been  dismissed  from  the  office  of  the 
Atlantis  for  stealing  and  systematic  theft  of  books  and 
petty  cash,  and  thereby  to  give  “a  good  lesson  to  the  cooks 
and  the  Hebrews,  that  they  were  not  so  easily  duped.” 
The  purpose  of  this  screed,  according  to  the  opposite 
party,  was  to  discredit  Mr.  Ekonomidy,  his  paper  and  his 
mission. 

A few  days  later  the  editor  of  the  Atlantis  went  to  the 
Hotel  Imperial,  as  was  his  custom,  for  lunch.  While  he 
was  seated  in  the  dining  room  a page  entered,  and  told  him 
that  some  one  wished  to  see  him  in  the  lobby.  He  went  to 
the  place  designated  and  found  there  the  wife  of  Mr.  Ekon- 
omidy. Before  the  editor  could  grasp  the  situation,  the 
woman  drew  from  under  her  long  coat  a horsewhip  and 
lashed  him  across  the  face  with  all  her  strength.  She  was 
finally  disarmed  by  the  hotel  attendants,  but  only  after 
she  had  administered  similar  punishment  to  one  or  two  of 


154 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


them.  This  event  naturally  called  for  comment  from  both 
the  papers.  The  Panhellenic,  after  deprecating  vengeance 
in  general,  went  on  to  give  the  extenuating  circumstances 
of  this  case,  and  concluded  with  the  following  burst  of  ora- 
tory: 

“Mr.  Ekonomidy  is  at  the  present  moment  seven  hundred 
miles  away  from  New  York.  But  Mrs.  Ekonomidy  is  in 
New  York,  and  in  her  veins  runs  Hellenic  and  even  Spartan 
blood.  And  Mrs.  Ekonomidy  has  taken  vengeance  for 
the  honor  of  her  husband,  for  the  honor  of  the  father  of 
her  child,  thrashing  publicly  yesterday  the  two  slanderers.” 
The  Atlantis  adopted  a rather  apologetic  tone  for  taking 
any  notice  of  so  vulgar  a transaction.* 

The  Orthodox  Community  of  New  York  dates  from  the 
year  1891.  It  was  incorporated  under  the  state  laws  in 
1904.  Its  organization  included  a president,  vice-presi- 
dent, secretary  and  treasurer,  and  seven  trustees,  elected 
by  ballot  every  two  years  and  holding  regular  meetings 
the  last  Thursday  of  each  month.  The  dues  are  voluntary 
and  from  600  to  600  members  are  said  to  pay  $5  per  year 
or  over.  Some  of  the  wealthy  Greeks  pay  much  more. 
The  membership  is  supposed  to  include  every  Greek  in  the 
city.  But  here,  as  in  Chicago  and  Lowell,  the  spirit  of 
dissension  has  invaded  the  realm  of  religion.  In  the  year 
1908  the  self-styled  “progressive  element”  in  the  church 
began  to  feel  a spirit  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  way  things 
were  going.  They  felt  that  the  affairs  of  the  church  were 
controlled  by  a group  of  undesirable  and  conservative 
Greeks,  and  that  they  themselves  could  get  no  part  in  the 

*See  the  New  York  Herald^  December  2,  1908,  the  Atlantia,  Novem- 
ber 27,  1908,  the  Panhellenic,  December  2,  1908,  the  Atlantis,  Decem- 
ber 2,  1908,  etc. 


155 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


management  of  the  organization.  Consequently  they 
withdrew  from  the  congregation  and  rented  a new  church 
of  their  own,  and  secured  their  own  priest.  At  the  present 
time  the  Greek  population  of  the  city  is  divided  into  two 
factions,  between  which  there  seems  to  be  a good  deal  of 
hard  feeling.  Each  claims  to  have  the  greater  number  of 
adherents.  There  are  no  doctrinal  differences  between  the 
two,  but  the  division  appears  to  have  been  on  personal 
grounds.  It  is  very  hard  for  an  outsider  to  get  at  the 
true  inwardness  of  affairs  of  this  kind  among  the  Greeks. 

The  older  church,  the  “Holy  Trinity,”  has  its  edifice  at 
151%  East  Seventy-second  Street.  This  building  was 
purchased  by  the  Community  at  a cost  of  $65,000, 
of  which  $20,000  has  been  paid  in  four  years.  The  sum 
of  $24,000  additional  has  been  expended  on  the  furnish- 
ings of  the  interior,  the  marble  for  which  was  brought 
from  Greece.  The  building  rented  by  the  other  organi- 
zation is  at  329-335  West  Thirtieth  Street,  and  is  desig- 
nated the  “Annunciation.”  It  is  the  intention  of  the 
church  to  purchase  this  building  soon. 

The  fondness  of  the  Greeks  for  organizations  is  mani- 
fested in  the  fact  that  aside  from  the  Orthodox  Community 
there  are  about  thirty  smaller  associations  in  the  city.  In 
reply  to  a query  as  to  the  purpose  of  these  societies,  my 
informant,  one  of  the  foremost  Greeks  in  the  country  and 
an  extremely  keen,  affable  and  intelligent  man,  replied: 
“One  of  them  does  a great  deal  of  valuable  work  along 
benevolent  lines.  As  for  the  rest,  I can’t  for  the  life  of 
me  say  what  their  purpose  is.  I’ll  tell  you  ! Each  society 
has  a president,  a vice-president,  a secretary,  and  a treas- 
urer— and  that's  something.” 

The  criminal  record  of  the  Greeks  in  New  York  is  not 

156 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


very  creditable.  The  report  of  the  City  Magistrates 
Courts,  First  Division  (Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Bronx)  for  1907  gives  the  following  list  of  the  different 
nationalities  of  persons  held  for  trial  or  summarily  tried 
and  convicted  in  these  courts  for  that  year: 


United  States  ....  30,261 

Ireland  .....  8,061 

Germany  .....  4,219 

England  .....  1,044 

Scotland 473 

France  .....  869 

Italy  .....  8,243 

Russia  .....  9,254 

Greece  .....  3,039 

Other  countries  . . . . 5,790 

Total 71,253 


Since  there  were  10,000  to  12,000  Greeks  in  the  district 
covered  by  this  report  in  the  year  in  question,  there  was,  on 
the  average,  a trifle  over  one  arrest  for  every  four  of  the 
total  population.  It  is  impossible  to  make  any  exact  com- 
parison of  the  Greeks  with  other  nationalities  from  the 
above  table,  in  the  absence  of  exact  data  as  to  the  total 
population  of  these  other  races  in  1907,  in  this  district. 
We  may  gain  a sort  of  general  idea,  however,  in  regard  to 
those  born  in  Russia  and  in  Italy.  The  Russians  are  of 
course  almost  wholly  Russian  Jews.  It  is  a conservative 
estimate  to  place  the  number  of  these  people  in  Manhattan 
and  the  Bronx  in  the  year  in  question  at  500,000.  Their 
average,  then,  would  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  arrest 
for  fifty-four  of  the  total  population.  The  Italian  popula- 
tion of  New  York  City  in  1900  was  145,433.  Considering 
the  enormous  immigration  of  people  of  this  race  during  the 
succeeding  seven  years  it  is  a perfectly  safe  assumption 


157 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


that  in  1907  there  were  at  least  twice  as  many — say 
300,000 — in  the  two  boroughs  in  question.  On  this  basis 
their  average  of  arrests  would  be  one  for  every  thirty-six. 
In  comparison  with  these  two  nationalities,  to  whom  we 
have  at  least  done  no  injustice,  the  record  of  the  Greeks  is 
very  discreditable.  On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  noted  that 
the  offenses  of  the  Greeks  are  almost  wholly  of  a minor 
nature.  Out  of  the  total  of  3,039  given  above,  2,521 
cases  were  violations  of  the  Corporation  Ordinances,  286 
were  for  disorderly  conduct,  85  for  violations  of  the  sani- 
tary law  and  25  for  Sabbath  breaking,  leaving  only  122 
for  all  other  offenses.  Of  the  8,243  offenses  committed 
by  Italians,  413  were  assault  (felony  and  misdemeanor), 
1,752  disorderly  conduct,  99  homicides,  250  larceny 
(felony  and  misdemeanor),  75  Sabbath  breaking,  3,060 
Auolations  of  Corporation  Ordinances,  660  violations  of 
the  sanitary  law.  A total  of  9,254  cases  of  Russians 
includes  227  assaults,  2,496  disorderly  conduct,  29  homi- 
cides, 392  felonies,  287  Sabbath  breaking,  3,144  violations 
of  the  Corporation  Ordinances,  and  1,367  violations  of 
the  sanitary  law.  There  was  not  a single  case  of  homi- 
cide among  the  Greeks.  But  even  among  the  Greeks 
there  seems  to  have  been  considerable  improvement  in  the 
matter  of  criminality.  Mr.  P.  F.  Hall  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  though  in  1900  there  were  only  1,309  Greeks 
in  New  York,  in  1902  there  were  1,678  persons  of  this 
nationality  held  in  the  courts  we  have  been  considering.* 
In  the  Children’s  Court  of  the  First  Division  in  1907  there 
were  but  three  cases  of  Greeks  out  of  a total  of  11,446. 

There  are  not  many  Greek  children  in  the  public  schools 
of  New  York,  as  would  be  expected  from  the  small  number 


* P.  F.  Hall,  Immigration,  p.  153. 

158 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


of  Greek  families.  The  principal  of  the  Boys’  Depart- 
ment of  Public  School  No.  1,  located  on  Henry  Street 
on  the  edge  of  the  Madison  Street  Greek  settlement,  told 
me  that  he  had  about  seventy-five  Greek  boys  in  the  school. 
Practically  all  were  born  abroad.  Their  average  age  is 
about  thirteen  years  and  few  of  them  remain  in  the  school 
more  than  two  years.  Their  parents  are  anxious  to  have 
them  go  to  work  as  soon  as  possible.  Voluntary  truancy 
on  the  part  of  the  boys  is  exceptional,  in  which  they  difFer 
from  the  Italian  boys.  There  are  occasional  brilliant  in- 
dividuals among  them,  but  as  a rule  they  do  not  compare 
very  favorably  with  other  foreign  boys.  There  are  very 
few  Greek  girls  in  this  school,  one  defective  being  the  only 
one  enrolled  in  December,  1908. 

The  Gkeek  Coeony  of  Lincoln. 

The  small  but  very  typical  Greek  colony  in  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  may  be  taken  as  representative  of  a large 
number  of  similar  settlements  located  in  the  smaller  cities 
and  towns  all  over  the  United  States.  Lincoln  is  a flour- 
ishing western  city  with  a population  in  1900  of  40,169. 
It  is  the  capital  of  the  state  and  a great  educational 
center.  Here  are  located  about  thirty-five  Greeks.  All 
but  four  or  five  are  males  and  only  about  a dozen  are 
adults,  the  remainder  being  boys  employed  in  the  shoe- 
shining  parlors  and  in  the  candy  store.  This  candy  store 
is  located  on  the  corner  of  Fourteenth  and  O Streets,  out- 
side of  the  present  center  of  business,  but  in  a district 
toward  which  trade  is  rapidly  moving  and  which  many 
shrewd  business  men  predict  will  be  the  center  of  business 
in  a few  years.  It  is  run  in  partnership  by  two  Greeks, 
one  of  whom  comes  from  Sparta  and  has  been  in  this 


159 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


country  eighteen  years.  He  usually  acted  as  the  host  on 
my  several  visits  to  the  store.  It  was  rather  difficult  to 
find  the  other  partner  in,  as  he  was  an  ardent  patron  of 
basehall,  and  was  frequently  in  attendance  at  the  games, 
in  company  with  the  proprietor  of  the  shoe-shining  par- 
lors. Both  of  the  proprietors  of  the  candy  store  are  very 
cordial,  pleasing  in  appearance  and  apparently  good 
business  men.  The  store  is  of  good  size  and  very  clean 
and  attractive.  There  is  a fine  fountain  for  the  service 
of  ice  cream,  soda  water,  etc.,  show  cases  with  candy,  and 
tables  and  chairs  in  the  rear  of  the  room.  Back  of  the 
main  room  is  a small  office,  into  which  my  host  conducted 
me.  We  found  there  two  or  three  Greek  women,  one  with 
a baby,  and  one  or  two  Greek  men,  to  whom  I was  intro- 
duced. In  the  basement  are  located  the  freezers  and 
machines  for  the  preparation  of  the  ice  cream.  The  room 
is  cement  floored  and  everything  is  clean  and  attractive. 
In  every  way  I was  treated  with  a hospitality  which 
marked  me  as  a guest  rather  than  as  a patron  or  inves- 
tigator. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Greek  shoe-shining  parlors  prac- 
tically controls  this  business  in  the  city.  He  is  a pleasant 
man  to  converse  with,  young,  and  handsome  in  a typically 
Greek  Avay.  He  is  well  spoken  of  by  the  secretary  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  He  owns  and  operates  four  shoe-shining 
establishments,  three  on  O Street,  the  principal  business 
street  of  the  city,  and  the  other  one  on  one  of  the  side 
streets  just  off  O.  He  seems  proud  of  his  business  and 
is  glad  to  talk  about  it.  He  says  that  he  employs  about 
twenty  boys.  Their  pay  ranges  from  $15  to  $25  per 
month  and  all  expenses  except  their  own  shoes  and  clothes. 
One  boy  who  has  been  with  him  three  years  receives  $400 


160 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


per  year.  In  each  shop  one  of  the  boys  who  has  been  with 
him  longest  is  given  general  oversight.  The  boys  are 
almost  without  exception  industrious  and  willing,  and 
there  is  seldom  any  show  of  reluctance  or  of  holding  off 
for  some  other  boy  to  do  the  work.  The  shops  differ  in 
their  appointments,  the  best  one  being  quite  palatial,  with 
seventeen  leather-covered  chairs  of  dark  hardwood,  electric 
fans,  hat  cleaners,  etc. 

The  proprietor  of  these  shops  was  married  in  the  spring 
of  1908  to  a Greek  girl  whom  he  had  known  in  the  old 
country.  She  came  to  this  country  three  years  previously 
and  lived  with  her  brothers  in  Chicago.  The  two  of  them 
now  have  a large  flat  on  Twelfth  and  N Streets,  where 
they  live  with  the  boys,  “all  Hke  one  big  family.”  The 
“boss”  says  he  very  seldom  sends  directly  for  any  boy  to 
come  over.  One  of  his  employees  perhaps  has  a brother 
or  cousin  in  the  old  country  and  he  writes  to  him  that  if 
he  will  come  over  he  can  probably  find  work  here.  So  he 
comes,  and  the  “boss”  gives  him  a job.  As  for  sending 
over  and  bringing  boys  here  in  a professional  way,  there 
is  no  truth  in  the  frequent  newspaper  reports  to  that 
effect^ — says  “the  boss.”  In  addition  to  his  shops  in  Lin- 
coln this  proprietor  has  a shop  in  Hastings,  Nebraska, 
and  one  in  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  Some  Greeks  from 
another  city  came  to  Lincoln  and  set  up  a rival  shop,  but 
they  were  not  able  to  make  a success  of  it,  and  sold  out 
their  fixtures  to  the  first  comer.  The  proprietor  says 
that  the  boys  save  money,  and  most  of  them  send  some 
home  to  the  old  folks. 

In  September,  1906,  one  of  the  boys  employed  in  these 
shops  became  dissatisfied  and  left  his  job.  He  circulated 
complaints  against  his  former  employer  which  came  to 


161 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


the  ears  of  the  secretary  of  the  Humane  Society,  and  he, 
in  company  with  the  secretary  of  City  Charity  Associ- 
ation, made  an  investigation.  The  charges  stated  that 
the  employer  underfed  his  boys,  made  them  work  from 
6.30  a.m.  to  10  or  11  p.m.,  took  away  their  tips,  and  kept 
himself  in  debt  to  them  to  prevent  their  leaving  him.  He 
refused  to  let  them  enter  the  night  school  and  their  wages 
of  35  cents  per  day  were  not  paid  until  the  end  of  the 
year.  The  investigators  visited  the  rooming  house  where 
twelve  or  fifteen  boys  were  kept.  They  found  the  boys  un- 
willing to  talk  much  about  themselves  or  their  employer, 
and  while  a good  deal  of  dirt  was  discovered,  nothing 
more  serious  was  revealed  and  no  arrests  Avere  made.  The 
boy  was  referred  to  one  of  the  attorneys  in  the  city,  but 
as  far  as  can  now  be  ascertained  nothing  was  done,  and 
the  case  was  settled  out  of  court.* 

These  bootblack  shops  are  kept  open  on  Sunday  but 
are  frequently  closed  on  Greek  holidays.  Considerable 
complaint  has  been  made  against  them  because  at  the 
time  of  the  State  Fair — the  rush  season  in  Lincoln — they 
raised  their  prices  from  the  regular  five  cents  to  ten 
cents.  But  while  this  may  be  undesirable,  it  would  be 
hard  to  demonstrate  that  in  so  doing  they  depart  widely 
from  the  practice  habitual  to  native  Americans  on  similar 
occasions. 

In  the  basement  of  the  candy  kitchen  is  a tailoring 
establishment  run  by  a Greek  from  Athens,  who  is  an 
intelligent  and  apparently  well-educated  man.  He  is  very 
loyal  to  his  native  city,  and  has  some  fine  photographs  of 
Greek  antiquities  which  he  takes  great  pride  and  pleasure 
in  showing. 

* Lincoln  Daily  News,  September  21,  1906. 


162 


COLONIES  IN  UNITED  STATES 


Lincoln  is  a division  point  of  the  Burlington  & Mis- 
souri River  Railroad,  and  a large  number  of  Greeks 
are  employed  on  the  section  from  time  to  time.  The 
division  superintendent,  when  asked  his  opinion  of  the 
Greeks  as  laborers,  said  that  the  Greeks  and  Italians  are 
about  alike.  The  Greeks  live  a little  better  and  eat  more 
meat.  He  thinks  there  is  no  better  way  of  sizing  up  the 
situation  than  to  say  that  all  foreigners  are  getting  just 
as  “wise”  as  the  Americans.  It  does  not  take  them  long 
after  they  arrive  in  this  country  to  learn  all  the  tricks  of 
shirking  and  killing  time  that  will  help  to  make  life  easy 
for  them.  These  Greek  laborers  are  secured  through  the 
passenger  agent  of  the  company  in  Chicago,  who  in  turn 
secures  them  from  a Greek  labor  agency. 

In  the  late  summer  of  1908  a gang  of  about  fifty  Greeks 
was  at  work  ballasting  the  track  along  the  new  line  of 
the  B.  & M.  R.  R.  out  of  Lincoln  to  the  west.  The  fore- 
man was  an  American  and  spoke  of  his  gang  as  follows : 

“Yes,  the  Greeks  are  good  workers.  This  gang  is 
better  than  any  bunch  of  Italians  I ever  had,  except  one. 
They  live  much  better  than  the  Italians — why,  they  live 
as  well  as  we  do.  They  keep  their  dishes  clean  and  are 
a good-natured  lot.  They  draw  their  pay  directly  from 
the  railroad  company,  and  the  B.  & M.  has  no  gangs 
working  on  any  other  basis,  though  I know  of  some  gangs 
on  other  railroads  where  the  laborers  are  hired  and  paid 
by  a contractor,  who  receives  his  compensation  from  the 
company.” 

These  men  were  under  the  direction  of  an  interpreter, 
who  acted  as  “sub-boss”  under  the  foreman.  He  was  a 
Greek  and  a very  interesting  man.  He  first  came  to  this 
country  in  1886,  and  has  traveled  considerably  since. 

163 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


He  spent  some  time  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  His 
present  home  is  in  Chicago,  where  he  has  a family.  He 
goes  out  with  different  gangs  of  men  for  varying  periods 
of  time. 

The  laborers  were  an  interesting,  good-natured  lot. 
They  displayed  the  characteristic  Greek  loyalty  to  the 
old  country,  some  of  them  going  so  far  as  to  claim  that 
wages  were  better  over  there.  They  were  drawing  from 
the  railroad  a daily  wage  of  $1.40 — about  twice  what 
they  could  have  hoped  for  in  Greece.  They  came  from 
all  sorts  of  occupations  on  the  other  side.  A few  of  them 
seemed  to  justify  the  remark  of  the  division  superintendent 
that  they  were  “wise,”  but  this  was  not  general,  and  they 
seemed  to  require  no  profanity  or  “bossing”  to  get  the 
work  done. 

While  they  are  at  work  the  company  furnishes  them 
camp  cars  in  Avhich  they  live,  doing  their  own  cooking  at 
their  own  expense.  These  cars  contain  bunks,  benches 
and  tables.  Some  of  them,  at  least,  are  kept  clean  and 
attractive.  Mosquito  netting  covers  the  shelves  where 
the  food  is  kept,  and  the  door  leading  into  the  sleeping 
quarters.  The  men  find  a good  deal  of  fault  with  the 
American  food,  particularly  our  custom  of  having  every- 
thing in  “boxes.”  In  Greece,  they  say,  the  food  is  always 
fresh,  and  meat  is  eaten  immediately  after  it  is  killed. 
Our  food  is  stale.  In  receiving  visitors  to  their  quarters 
they  display  the  gracious  and  pleasing  hospitality  so 
characteristic  of  their  race. 

The  Greeks  of  Lincoln  are  a prosperous  and  well- 
contented  lot.  The  City  Charity  Association  has  prac- 
tically no  applications  from  people  of  this  race. 


164 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Economic  Conditions 

rr^HE  Greek  colonies  which  have  been  described  in  the 
^ preceding  pages  may  be  taken  as  representative  of 
the  life  of  the  Greek  population  of  the  United  States — for 
there  is  a remarkable  homogeneity  in  the  avocations  and 
activities  of  this  race  all  over  the  country.  Chicago,  New 
York  and  Lincoln  are  typical  of  much  the  larger  class  of 
Greek  settlements ; Lowell  represents  a minor,  but  impor- 
tant group  of  colonies  located  principally  in  the  manu- 
facturing cities  of  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine.  The  predominant  industries  of  the  Greeks  in  this 
country  are  those  which  we  have  found  to  characterize  the 
three  first-named  cities,  the  management  of  candy  kitchens 
and  confectionery  stores,  ice  cream  parlors,  fruit  stores, 
fruit  stands  and  push  carts,  florist  shops,  and  bootblack- 
ing establishments.  Stated  concisely,  the  Greeks  in  this 
country  are  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  catering  to  the 
minor  wants  of  a highly  organized  and  differentiated  in- 
dustrial population.  A smaller  number  are  engaged  in 
a line  of  business  which,  though  closely  related  to  the 
others,  has  to  do  with  the  satisfaction  of  one  of  the  major 
wants — the  running  of  restaurants,  lunch  rooms  and,  to 
a less  extent,  hotels. 

The  extent  to  which  the  Greeks  have  got  control  of 
the  fruit  and  candy  business  in  this  country  would  be 
amazing  if  it  were  not  so  famihar  to  even  the  casual 
observer.  It  would  be  tiresome  and  unprofitable  to 
attempt  to  give  a list  or  even  an  enumeration  of  the  estab- 


165 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


lishments  of  this  kind  operated  by  Greeks  all  over  the 
country.  Table  15  is  taken  from  the  Greek- American 
business  directory  given  in  the  Thermopylae  Almanac  for 
1904,  and  shows  the  number  of  cities  in  the  different  states 
which  according  to  this  publication  contain  at  least  one 
of  the  kinds  of  shop  mentioned,  operated  by  Greeks.  The 
similar  directory,  given  in  the  Greek- American  Guide  for 
1909,  contains  so  many  names  of  Greek  firms  engaged  in 
these  businesses  that  it  would  be  tedious  to  recount  them. 
A few  examples  of  some  of  the  more  important  cities  will 
convey  the  idea:  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  eleven  confectioners; 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  fifteen  confectioners,  thirty-three  fruit 
dealers ; San  Francisco,  Cal.,  seven  confectioners,  three 
fruit  dealers ; Atlanta,  Ga.,  thirty-two  confectioners,  nine 
fruit  dealers ; Baltimore,  Md.,  forty-one  confectioners, 
etc. ; Boston,  Mass.,  twenty-two  confectioners,  forty-three 
fruit  dealers  (about  fifteen  of  these  are  said  to  be  whole- 
sale) ; St.  Louis,  Mo.,  nineteen  confectioners;  Philadel- 
phia, nineteen  confectioners,  three  fruit  dealers ; Mil- 
waukee, Wis.,  seventeen  fruit  and  candy  dealers,  etc. 

In  short,  not  only  in  the  large  cities  but  in  the  smaller 
towns  and  even  villages  the  Greeks  are  approaching  year 
by  year  nearer  to  a monopoly  of  this  line  of  business.  One 
grows  to  expect  to  find  a Greek  candy  store  in  every  new 
place  he  visits.  The  large  place  that  confectionery  sell- 
ing holds  in  the  life  of  the  Greek- American  people  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  large  amount  of  advertising  space 
devoted  to  this  line  of  business  in  the  Greek  papers.  (See 
Table  16.)  In  entering  the  fruit  and  candy  trade  the 
Greeks  came  into  competition  with  other  older-established 
nationalities,  particularly  the  Italians,  and  almost  uni- 
versally the  Greeks  have  held  their  own,  and  usually  dis- 

166 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


placed  the  others.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  this  is  in 
Boston.*  Fruit  and  candy  are  often  combined  in  one 
store,  as  are  also  candy  and  ice  cream.  Flowers  are  some- 
times included  in  the  stock  of  a candy  store,  but  more 
usually  sold  separately.  In  the  flower  business,  especially 
in  New  York,  boys  are  extensively  used  in  street  selling. 

In  seeking  for  the  explanation  of  the  predilection  of  the 
Greeks  for  these  lines  of  business  we  get  little  light  from 
a survey  of  conditions  on  the  other  side.  It  is  true  that 
the  Greeks  are  very  fond  of  sweets,  and  are  very  skillful 
in  their  manufacture.  But  Greek  sweets  are  mostly  of 
a different  nature  from  American  candies,  and  the  Greeks 
who  are  engaged  in  this  business  in  the  United  States  do 
not  to  any  considerable  extent  come  from  similar  occupa- 
tions on  the  other  side.  The  principal  explanation  is  to 
be  found  in  the  nature  of  the  businesses  themselves.  The 
trade  in  fruit,  candy  and  flowers  is  one  which  can  be 
started  with  small  capital  and  little  experience,  but  can 
be  expanded  gradually  until  it  reaches  very  profitable 
proportions.  The  average  Greek  immigrant  does  not 
bring  enough  money  with  him  to  establish  himself  in  a 
fixed  business.  But  he  can  buy  a push  cart,  or  even  a 
small  tray  hung  over  his  shoulder,  on  which  he  can  place 
a small  stock  of  sweetmeats  or  fruit,  and  stationing  him- 
self on  a street  corner,  begin  doing  business.  Or  if  his 
resources  and  ability  are  still  more  limited,  he  can  at  least 
get  hold  of  a few  bunches  of  flowers,  which  he  can  offer  for 
sale.  Give  a Greek  a start  in  business  and  he  will  do  the 
rest.  However  small  his  earnings  he  manages  to  save  a 
part  of  them,  and  in  the  course  of  time  he  has  amassed 
enough  to  enter  on  the  second  stage  of  the  progression. 

* Bushee,  Ethnic  Factors  in  the  Population  of  Boston,  pp.  67,  73. 

167 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


He  gets  control  of  a small  sidewalk  space  and  puts  up  a 
little  stand  where  he  can  keep  a larger  stock  of  goods, 
and  have  a permanent  location.  From  now  on  his  advance- 
ment is  rapid.  Very  soon  he  is  able  to  rent  a small  store, 
with  or  without  sidewalk  space  in  front,  and  then  it  is  only 
a matter  of  time  and  ability  until  he  is  operating  a finely 
appointed  store  on  one  of  the  best  streets  of  the  city,  or 
perhaps  owns  a chain  of  stores  which  ensure  him  the  bulk 
of  the  trade  of  the  place. 

Of  course,  many  of  the  more  recent  immigrants  are 
spared  the  first  one  or  two  stages,  as  the  great  majority 
of  those  who  are  coming  now  have  friends  already  estab- 
lished in  the  business,  who  give  them  a place  in  their  own 
store  until  they  have  saved  enough  to  start  in  on  their 
own  responsibility.  This  suggests  the  second  great  expla- 
nation for  the  point  under  discussion.  Given  a number  of 
Greeks  already  established  in  a certain  kind  of  business 
and  the  later  comers  of  the  same  race  will  follow  their  lead 
like  a flock  of  sheep.  As  one  intelligent  Greek  told  me, 
a Greek  is  afraid  to  strike  out  into  any  field  where  no  one 
of  his  people  has  preceded  him.  He  himself  had  tried  to 
establish  a large  meat  farm.  He  came  into  conflict  with 
the  beef  trust  and  his  experiment  cost  him  $10,000.  It 
is  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  immigrants 
coming  to  this  country,  ignorant  of  the  language  and 
customs,  should  take  up  departments  of  business  in  which 
others  of  their  own  nationality  have  succeeded,  and  in 
which  many  of  their  personal  friends  are  engaged. 

The  fruit  business  lends  itself  to  the  push-cart  trade 
more  readily  than  the  candy  business.  But  the  latter  is 
preferred  by  the  Greeks,  perhaps  because  of  the  less  per- 
ishable nature  of  the  goods,  and  it  is  the  most  important 

168 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


Greek  industry  in  the  country.  One  of  the  first  Greeks, 
if  not  the  very  first,  to  establish  himself  in  the  candy  busi- 
ness  in  the  United  States  was  Mr.  John  Frankopoulos,  or 
“Franklin,”  as  he  now  calls  himself.  He  started  business 
in  Boston  where  he  still  has  a factory.  His  plan  was  to 
start  branch  stores  in  other  cities  and  put  them  in  charge 
of  his  friends.  As  the  latter  got  the  mastery  of  the  busi- 
ness, he  would  sell  the  stores  to  them  and  start  others  else- 
where. At  the  present  time  he  is  said  to  own  stores  all 
over  the  country.  Greek  candy  stores,  wherever  found, 
are  apt  to  be  quite  uniform  in  type,  perhaps  because,  in  a 
sense,  they  all  belong  to  one  family.  There  are  probably 
very  few  proprietors  of  such  places  who  have  not  served 
an  apprenticeship  in  a similar  one  kept  by  one  of  their 
fellow  countrymen.  Quite  generally  they  contain  facili- 
ties for  selling  ice  cream  and  soda  water,  in  addition  to 
cand3^  Mirrors  are  very  much  in  evidence,  and  the  fur- 
nishings are  apt  to  be  somewhat  gaudy,  but  the  public 
parts  at  least  are  almost  invariably  scrupulously  clean, 
and  the  general  appearance  of  the  store  attractive.  These 
stores  usually  manufacture  their  own  goods.  One  of  the 
finest  of  these  establishments  is  on  the  corner  of  Van- 
Buren  and  State  Streets  in  Chicago.  The  appointments 
are  all  of  the  finest  quality.  A peculiarly  dazzling  effect 
is  produced  by  a double  string  of  many  colored  ribbons 
running  in  two  directions  over  the  face  of  the  mirrors 
which  line  the  walls  of  the  room.  This  store  combines  all 
four  departments  of  the  business,  fruit,  candy,  flowers, 
and  ice  cream  and  soda. 

The  best  evidence  of  the  quality  of  service  rendered  by 
the  Greeks  in  these  lines,  is  that  they  succeed.  The  Amer- 
ican people  are  not  usually  systematically  defrauded  in 

169 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


matters  of  this  kind.  Generally  speaking,  the  confec- 
tionery business  in  this  country  is  in  much  better  shape 
than  it  was  a few  years  ago.  The  flagrant  abuses,  such 
as  the  use  of  paris  green  as  a coloring  matter,  have  largely 
disappeared.  Within  the  last  few  years  there  has  been 
started  a publication  called  “Purity,”  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of  pure  food.  It  contains  a list  of  violators  of 
food  laws  all  over  the  country.  In  the  files  for  1908  there 
appear  a number  of  cases  of  convictions  for  adulteration 
of  candy,  and  while  among  them  the  names  of  some  of 
the  leading  American  manufacturers  are  found,  there  are 
no  Greek  names.  Several  state  reports  of  dairy  and  food 
commissioners,  etc.,  were  also  examined,  but  no  Greek 
violators  of  pure  food  laws  were  found.  As  a concrete 
example  I purchased  nine  samples  of  candies  from  four 
different  Greek  stores  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  which  were 
examined  by  the  State  Experiment  Station,  through  the 
courtesy  of  Mr.  J.  P.  Street  and  other  officers.  In  select- 
ing the  samples  I took  pains  to  choose  cheap  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  highly  colored  candies,  as  they  would  be  the 
most  likely  to  show  any  faults.  Highly  colored  candies 
are  by  no  means  common,  however,  in  these  stores.  The 
result  of  the  examination  was  summarized  by  Mr.  Street 
in  the  following  words : 

“I  found  no  mineral  make-weight,  no  terra  alba,  barytes 
or  similar  material.  The  chocolate  coatings  in  all  cases 
were  made  of  pure  chocolate,  that  is,  no  iron  salts  were 
present.  Several  of  the  candies  were  colored  with  coal- 
tar  colors,  but  the  quantity  of  material  did  not  permit  of 
their  identification,  so  I cannot  say  whether  those  used 
were  harmful  or  not.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
quantity  present  could  have  no  injurious  effect.” 


170 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


Prophecy  is  at  best  a hazardous  pastime,  yet  in  con- 
cluding our  discussion  of  this  part  of  the  economic  life  of 
the  Greeks  in  the  United  States,  we  may  say  that  the  indi- 
cations are  that  if  immigration  from  Greece  should  keep 
up  at  its  present  rate  for  twenty  years  to  come,  at  the  end 
of  that  period  the  candy  business  of  the  country,  the  soda 
fountains,  and  perhaps  the  fruit  business,  would  be  a 
Greek  monopoly. 

In  entering  the  restaurant  business  the  Greeks  are  doing 
what  might  well  be  expected  from  their  natural  proclivi- 
ties. In  their  home  country  they  attach  great  impor- 
tance to  matters  of  diet  and  appear  to  be  a nation  of  nat- 
ural born  cooks.  The  restaurants  in  this  country  are 
divided  into  two  classes : those  which  cater  to  the  American 
trade  and  are  patterned  after  our  own,  and  those  which 
are  made  as  nearly  as  possible  like  the  eating  houses  in 
Greece,  in  order  to  attract  the  Greek  patronage.  The 
former  are  usually  clean  and  well  kept  up.  The  latter  are 
not  always  particularly  inviting  to  a stranger.  The 
Greek  type  of  restaurant  is  probably  the  most  numerous, 
though  the  other  is  beginning  to  hold  a considerable  place, 
especially  in  the  southern  states.  The  Greeks  have  thirty- 
six  restaurants  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  where  they  are  said  to 
practically  control  the  business.  In  Birmingham,  Ala., 
there  are  twelve  hotels  and  fourteen  restaurants,  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  twenty-six  restaurants,  in  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
twenty-five  restaurants,  etc.  There  are  also,  all  over  the 
country,  large  numbers  of  Greeks  working  as  waiters, 
cooks  and  dishwashers  in  hotels  and  restaurants  run  by 
Americans. 

The  shoe-shining  business,  though  more  limited  in  its 
possibilities  than  the  fruit  and  candy  businesses,  resembles 


171 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


them  in  the  fact  that  it  can  be  begun  with  small  capital 
and  little  experience,  and  extended  gradually.  It  differs 
from  them  in  being  especially  adaptable  to  the  padrone 
system.  This  vicious  form  of  practical  slavery  has  been 
largely  developed  by  the  Italians  and  takes  its  name  from 
the  Italian  word  “padrone,”  or  master.  But  it  is  also 
decidedly  characteristic  of  the  Greek  nation.  It  may  be 
briefly  described  as  follows : 

A foreigner  who  has  been  in  this  country  a few  years, 
and  has  got  some  command  of  the  language,  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  customs  of  the  country,  establishes  himself  in 
some  business — the  bootblacking  trade,  par  excellence — 
in  which  he  needs  the  assistance  of  a number  of  boys,  who 
need  have  no  special  ability  or  training.  Through  means 
which  will  be  described  later,  he  secures  from  his  home 
country  half  a dozen  or  more  boys,  who  are  under  agree- 
ment to  work  for  him  for  a specified  length  of  time  at  a 
fixed  remuneration.  These  boys  are  kept  all  together  in 
a room,  or  suite  of  rooms,  hired  by  the  padrone.  He  fur- 
nishes everything  except  their  clothes  and  shoes.  In  many 
cases  he  acts  as  the  agent  in  practically  every  transaction 
which  the  boys  have  with  the  outside  world,  such  as  pur- 
chasing goods,  sending  money  home,  etc.  He  thus  has 
opportunity  to  defraud  the  boys  to  his  own  profit  in  a 
variety  of  ways  without  any  restrictions  save  such  as  are 
placed  by  his  own  scruples — which  are  all  too  frequently 
wholly  lacking.  The  boys  are  kept  at  work  long  hours, 
and  thereby  prevented  from  attending  night  schools  or 
learning  English  in  any  other  way.  They  are,  therefore, 
unable  to  learn  the  customary  wages  or  living  conditions 
of  the  country,  and  work  on  year  after  year  in  ignorance 
of  the  injustices  which  they  are  actually  suffering. 


172 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


This  is  the  system  which  the  Greeks  have  applied  to  the 
boothlacking  trade  in  the  United  States,  especially  in  the 
western  states.  It  has  reached  its  fullest  development  in 
Chicago,  where  the  Greeks  have  a practical  monopoly  of 
the  business,  but  it  exists  in  many  other  cities  in  the  Union, 
particularly  in  the  Middle  West.  In  New  York  and 
Boston  the  Italians  are  too  numerous  and  too  firmly  in- 
trenched to  allow  the  Greeks  to  have  displaced  them  as 
yet.  However,  in  both  these  cities  they  have  made  a good 
start,  and  if  they  do  not  get  control  in  a few  years  it  will 
be  contrary  to  their  usual  rule.  Like  the  candy  stores, 
these  shoe-shining  parlors  are  of  a uniform  type  all  over 
the  country.  They  are  usually  small  store  rooms,  in  good 
locations,  fitted  up  with  from  a dozen  to  twenty  chairs, 
electric  fans,  hat  cleaners,  etc.  Very  frequently  tobacco 
is  sold,  and  sometimes  there  is  a barber-shop  or  pool  hall 
in  conjunction.  In  this  business,  as  in  so  many  others, 
the  Greeks  have  proved  themselves  superior  to  the  Italians. 
The  shops  are  cleaner  and  better  kept  up.  The  boys  are 
much  quieter  and  more  respectful,  and  do  not  jabber  to 
each  other  in  a foreign  language,  which  is  very  annoying 
to  an  American  patron.  The  Greek  boys  attend  to  busi- 
ness better  and  give  a better  shine  than  the  Italians.  The 
uniform  price  all  over  the  country  is  five  cents  per  shine. 

To  get  at  the  origin  of  this  system  among  the  Greeks 
in  this  country  we  must  examine  affairs  in  their  native 
land.  The  bootblack  is  a prominent  and  familiar  figure 
in  Greece,  not  only  in  the  larger  cities,  but  in  many  of 
the  smaller  ones.  With  their  characteristic  fondness  for 
dress  and  a fastidious  appearance,  the  Greeks  pay  a great 
deal  of  attention  to  the  neatness  of  their  shoes.  As  the 
price  of  a shine  is  only  one  or  two  cents,  even  those  in 


173 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


moderate  circumstances  can  afford  to  have  their  shoes 
attended  to  quite  frequently.  Here  the  shining  is  done 
outdoors  or  in  the  coffee-houses;  there  are  few,  if  any, 
indoor  sliining  parlors  in  Greece.  The  bootblacks  have 
a small  box  or  chest  in  which  they  keep  their  brushes, 
pastes,  etc.  On  the  top  of  the  box  is  a rest,  where  the 
patron  places  his  foot.  Some  of  the  bootblacks  carry  a 
small  chair  on  which  they  sit  as  they  work.  Athens  and 
Patras  contain  large  numbers  of  these  small  boys,  or 
“Aovo-rpoi”  as  they  are  called.  They  are  largely  employed 
as  errand  and  messenger  boys,  and  bear  a splendid  repu- 
tation for  honesty.  The  surprising  thing,  however,  is 
that  A^ery  few  of  them  are  natives  of  the  cities  in  which 
they  work.  Ask  a “koDo-Tpos”  where  his  home  is,  and  with 
amazing  regularity  the  answer  comes,  “Megalopolis.” 
Further  inquiry  reveals  a very  interesting  state  of  affairs, 
which  deserves  to  be  recounted  in  some  detail. 

On  account  of  the  national  dowry  system  which  has 
been  desci’ibed  above  (see  page  39),  daughters  in  Greece 
are  esteemed  a burden,  and  their  advent  a misfortune. 
On  the  other  hand,  a boy  is  an  asset,  and  is  expected  very 
soon  to  begin  to  contribute  to  the  income  of  the  family. 
In  the  central  districts  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and  especially 
around  Tripolis  and  Megalopolis,  the  custom  has  grown 
up  of  expecting  a boy  as  soon  as  he  reaches  the  age  of 
ten  or  twelve  to  go  away  and  begin  to  earn  money  to 
support  his  parents.  These  little  lads  are  sent  away  to 
cities  all  over  Greece,  and  the  Greek  cities  in  Turkey. 
They  are  employed  in  the  coffee-houses  and  grocery  stores, 
as  well  as  in  the  bootblacking  trade.  The  terms  of  their 
service  are  very  hard.  They  are  said  to  earn  from  $10 
to  $20  per  year,  in  return  for  which  they  must  work  from 


174 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


six  o’clock  in  the  morning  till  twelve  at  night  or  even 
later,  365  days  in  the  year.  Their  food  is  bread,  cheese, 
and  olives  or  sardines,  with  cooked  meat  once  or  twice  a 
week.  They  are  brutally  treated  by  their  employers  in 
many  cases.* 

Megalopolis  is  the  center  of  this  practice.  There  are 
plenty  of  small  children  in  evidence  on  the  streets  of  the 
village,  but  one  scarcely  sees  a boy  between  twelve  and 
eighteen.  I was  told  by  an  American  gentleman  residing 
in  Athens,  that  four  or  five  years  ago  he  had  visited 
Megalopolis  and  found  the  town  practically  cleaned  out 
as  far  as  boys  were  concerned.  A Greek  from  America 
had  just  been  there,  and  had  taken  about  150  boys  back 
with  him. 

There  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  1,000  of  these  little 
“Xovcrrpoi”  in  Athens,  mostly  from  Megalopolis  and  the 
neighboring  districts  of  Tripolis  and  Messenia.  A great 
many  of  them,  particularly  the  newcomers,  are  under  the 
control  of  a padrone.  These  boys  are  customarily  sold 
to  the  boss  by  their  parents  for  the  term  of  a year  for 
200  to  250  drachmas.  Different  bosses  have  different 
arrangements  with  their  boys.  Some  furnish  everything 
that  the  boys  need  and  require  them  to  turn  in  all  their 
earnings ; others  furnish  sleeping  quarters  and  perhaps 
part  of  the  food,  and  require  the  boys  to  turn  in  one  and 
a half  drachmas  each  every  evening,  the  balance  of  their 
earnings  to  be  used  for  the  rest  of  their  food,  and  their 
other  necessities.  The  term  of  service  of  these  boys  is 
seldom  over  a year  or  two.  When  they  have  learned  the 
ropes,  four  or  five  or  more  of  them  will  club  together  and 
hire  a room  for  about  fifteen  drachmas  per  month,  and 
* A.  A.  Seraphic,  Preliminary  Report,  Greek  Bootblacks. 


175 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


go  into  business  independently.  They  earn  from  two  to 
three  drachmas  per  day,  and  save  about  fifteen  drachmas 
per  month.  They  usually  stop  work  about  sundown. 
Their  food  is  bread  and  cheese,  and  occasionally  a tomato 
or  something  of  that  sort.  I asked  one  of  them  how  many 
times  a day  they  ate.  He  looked  rather  surprised  and 
replied,  “Why,  whenever  we  get  hungry.” 

An  evening  school,  called  the  “Ragged  School,”  is  con- 
ducted for  these  boys  by  the  Parnassus  Club,  one  of  the 
fashionable  organizations  of  the  city.  It  is  supported 
partly  by  subscriptions,  but  mainly  from  the  proceeds  of 
a grand  ball  given  under  the  auspices  of  the  Queen,  the 
tickets  for  which  are  sometimes  sold  for  as  high  as  100 
drachmas  each.  The  teachers  are  paid,  but  the  head  of 
the  school,  who  is  an  official  in  one  of  the  banks,  gives  his 
valuable  services  free.  There  are  about  700  boys  in  the 
school.  They  are  taught  writing,  reading,  grammar, 
letter  writing  and  such  elementary  branches.  When  a 
visitor  enters  they  are  taught  to  hold  up  both  hands  and 
wave  their  handkerchiefs,  to  show  how  clean  they  are. 
The  bosses  allow  the  boys  to  attend  these  schools,  from 
which  many  of  them  are  graduates.  Attendance  at  these 
schools  is  voluntary  and  there  is  no  charge  for  tuition. 

The  padrone  system,  then,  has  been  long  established  in 
Greece.  Nobody  seems  to  see  anything  out  of  the  way 
in  the  practice  of  requiring  these  small  boys  to  support 
their  parents — for  even  after  they  have  started  working 
independently  their  earnings  all  go  home.  One  cannot 
help  wondering  if  the  old  child  tax,  to  which  the  country 
was  subjected  during  so  many  years  of  Moslem  control, 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  breaking  down  the 
bonds  of  family  affection,  and  in  causing  the  equanimity 


176 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


with  which  parents  undergo  separation  from  their  ten-  and 
twelve-year-old  boys.  And  however  one  may  despise  the 
callous  and  indolent  fathers,  he  cannot  help  admiring  the 
bravery,  industry  and  faithfulness  of  the  little  fellows, 
who  start  out  to  make  a living  for  their  parents  at  such 
a tender  age. 

The  evils  of  the  padrone  system  in  Greece  are  limited 
by  the  fact  that  the  boys  are  familiar  with  the  language 
and  customs  of  the  country,  and  cannot  be  imposed  upon 
to  the  extent  that  is  possible  in  a foreign  country.  While 
the  living  apartments  and  food  of  the  boys  are  far  from 
what  we  would  consider  satisfactory,  they  are  not  particu- 
larly bad  compared  with  the  ordinary  living  conditions 
of  the  laboring  class  of  the  country,  and  the  term  of  ser- 
vice is  usually  a short  one.  When  transplanted  to  the 
United  States,  however,  this  system  contains  possibilities 
of  extreme  abuse.  The  boys  are  unfamiliar  with  the 
living  and  laboring  conditions  in  this  country,  and  being 
ignorant  of  the  language,  they  have  no  means  of  inform- 
ing themselves.  They  are  kept  closely  confined  to  their 
place  of  business  and  sleeping  quarters,  and  are  very 
largely  prevented  from  coming  in  contact  with  the  Ameri- 
can world  in  which  they  are  placed.  They  are  practically 
at  the  mercy  of  their  boss,  and  their  treatment  depends 
on  his  personal  will  and  pleasure.  The  boss,  on  his  part, 
is  seldom  inclined  to  use  his  power  leniently,  and  the  con- 
ditions resulting  from  this  state  of  affairs  have  been  so 
bad  as  to  lead  the  United  States  government  to  devote  a 
good  deal  of  attention  to  the  bootblacking  trade  in  this 
country.  The  official  interest  in  the  matter  is  increased 
by  the  fact  that  many  of  these  boys  are  in  this  country 
in  violation  of  the  contract  labor  law.  For  some  years 


177 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


past  the  government  has  had  a special  immigrant  inspec- 
tor, Mr.  A.  A.  Seraphic,  himself  a Greek,  whose  main 
business  has  been  the  investigation  of  conditions  among 
the  Greeks  in  this  country,  particularly  those  engaged  in 
the  bootblacking  trade.  From  an  unpublished  preliminary 
report  of  his,  kindly  put  at  my  disposal  by  Secretary 
Straus,  much  of  the  information  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing few  paragraphs  has  been  derived.  Mr.  Seraphic 
paints  the  situation  in  very  dark  colors,  and  it  seems  prob- 
able that  his  official  interest  in  violations  of  law  and  op- 
pression may  have  led  him  to  somewhat  over-emphasize  the 
evil  conditions,  and  neglect  to  give  their  due  place  to  those 
shops  where  the  boys  are  more  kindly  treated.  Yet  gen- 
erally speaking  conditions  are  undoubtedly  bad  enough  to 
warrant  a sweeping  condemnation  of  the  entire  system  in 
this  country. 

The  importation  of  Greek  boys  for  this  business  began 
about  twelve  years  ago,  and  has  attained  very  considerable 
proportions  as  the  large  number  of  Greek  boys  who  are 
admitted  to  this  country — to  say  nothing  of  those  who 
are  debarred — under  the  age  of  fourteen  indicates.  (See 
page  113.)  These  boys  are  almost  always  secured  with 
the  consent  of  their  parents.  Sometimes  the  bargain  is 
made  directly  with  the  parents,  sometimes  with  the  boys. 
Considerable  use  is  made  of  the  “/<or/u,7rapos”  or  godfather 
relationship,  in  securing  the  consent  of  the  parents  to 
let  the  boys  go.  A Greek  from  America  will  go  back  to 
his  native  village,  and  being  a person  of  considerable 
importance,  he  can  easily  manage  to  stand  godfather  to 
a number  of  boys.  Later  on,  he  is  able  to  make  use  of 
this  relationship  in  bringing  over  boys  whom  he  needs  in 
his  business.  Sometimes  the  padrone  pays  a fixed  sum  to 


178 


■■-■,-  , , - ■ . 


•■ '- . 

~ V 

' ?;.•■'  -' 

» • 


i '•* 


^'r  • -y  ■ 

■ '• % - v 


BOOTBLACK  SHOP  AND  TWO  OF  THE  BOYS,  NEW  HAVEN 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


the  father  for  the  use  of  his  boy  for  a fixed  term  of  years. 
Sometimes  he  agrees  to  pay  the  boy’s  transportation,  and 
give  him  a certain  yearly  salary  as  long  as  he  works  for 
him.  These  contracts  are  almost  always  oral,  to  evade 
the  contract  labor  law. 

As  soon  as  the  boys  arrive  in  this  country,  they  are 
taken  to  the  rooms  of  the  padrone,  which  from  this  time 
on  are  to  be  their  “home,”  and  are  at  once  put  to  work 
in  the  shop.  Thus  begins  a period  of  practical  slavery. 
The  hours  of  work  are  very  long — usually  from  six  or 
seven  o’clock  in  the  morning  until  ten  or  eleven  at  night, 
or  even  longer.*  In  the  large  cities  it  is  said  that  some 
of  the  padrones,  to  save  rent,  have  the  sleeping  quarters 
of  the  boys  at  long  distances  from  their  place  of  business, 
so  that  the  boys  have  to  walk  nearly  an  hour  to  their  work 
in  the  morning  and  back  again  in  the  evening.  This  time 
is  taken  from  their  sleep.  As  a rule  the  boys  have  to 
work  every  day  in  the  year,  though  some  padrones  give 
their  boys  half  a day,  or  even  a day,  olf  per  week,  and 
some  close  the  shops  on  Greek  holidays.  Mr.  Seraphic 
says  that  when  he  has  won  the  confidence  of  the  boys,  they 
often  plead  with  tears  in  their  eyes  for  him  to  have  the 
“King”  or  President  close  the  shops  on  Sundays. 

The  sleeping  quarters  are  usually  sadly  overcrowded. 
Three  or  four  boys  are  kept  in  a small  room,  and  some- 
times made  to  sleep  in  one  bed.  One  little  boy  told  me 
that  in  the  house  where  he  was  kept  there  were  fifty  men, 
and  they  had  to  sleep  five  in  a bed.  The  rooms  are  kept 
in  a filthy  condition,  and  there  is  no  ventilation,  so  that 
the  air  becomes  extremely  vile.  The  boys  usually  do  their 
own  cooking  and  take  turns  at  it,  two  by  two.  The  two 
* Omaha  Daily  Bee,  June  10,  1908. 

179 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


boys  who  are  appointed  to  do  the  cooking  for  the  next 
day  have  to  stay  up  the  night  before  and  wash  the  cloths 
from  the  shop.  The  breakfast  is  a very  light  one.  The 
two  boys  who  are  left  at  home  prepare  a quantity  of  food 
in  the  morning.  Half  of  it  is  taken  to  the  shop  for  lunch, 
where  the  boys  are  compelled  to  eat  hurriedly  in  the  inter- 
vals of  trade,  in  a rear  or  basement  room.  The  other 
half  of  the  food  is  warmed  up  for  supper.  This  food  is 
probably  preferable  to  what  the  boys  would  get  at  home, 
at  least  in  variety,  but  falls  far  short  of  the  American  idea 
of  adequate  nutriment.  The  charge  is  sometimes  made 
that  the  bosses  purposely  refuse  to  allow  the  boys  to  attend 
the  night  schools  in  order  to  prevent  their  learning  enough 
to  become  dissatisfied.  Others  say  that  the  boys  simply 
cannot  be  spared  from  the  business.  In  either  case  the 
result  is  the  same — the  boys  are  prevented  from  coming 
in  touch  with  American  life,  and  learning  American  ways 
of  doing  things.  The  restricted  life  of  these  boys,  and 
their  close  confinement  to  the  shop  and  the  rooms  are 
appalling.  Many  of  the  boys  endeavor  to  improve  their 
minds,  and  one  often  sees  those  who  are  not  working  read- 
ing a Greek  newspaper,  or  even  spelling  out  the  words  in 
some  simple  English  book.  As  a rule  they  are  a patient, 
uncomplaining  lot,  though  when  one  talks  to  them  of  their 
parents  and  their  home  country,  the  deep  homesickness 
down  in  their  hearts  finds  plain  expression  in  their  faces 
in  many  instances.  The  long  hours,  poor  food,  bad  air 
and  stooping  posture  of  their  work  drive  many  of  them 
into  consumption  and  other  pulmonary  troubles. 

The  wages  of  these  boys  are  variously  stated.  Mr. 
Seraphic  places  the  average  yearly  wage  at  from  $120  to 
$175.  Others  put  it  considerably  higher.  (See  pages 

180 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


151  and  160.)  Probably  taking  the  whole  country  into 
consideration  the  average  wage  of  all  boys  employed  in 
these  shops  would  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  $200,  not 
including  board  and  lodging,  which  are  also  furnished  by 
the  padrone.*  Probably  the  bulk  of  these  earnings  is 
sent  home  to  relatives  in  Greece.  If  the  boys  were  allowed 
to  keep  the  tips  which  they  receive  their  earnings  would 
be  much  greater.  But  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  this 
is  not  done.f  Sometimes  the  original  agreement  with  the 
boy  or  his  parents  provides  that  the  boss  shall  keep  the 
tips ; sometimes  he  merely  takes  them.  In  some  padrone 
houses  the  boys  are  searched  when  they  come  back  from 
work,  and  any  money  they  may  have  in  their  clothes  is 
taken  from  them.  So  that  the  generous-hearted  patron, 
who  thinks  that  his  extra  nickel  is  helping  along  the  in- 
dustrious little  boy  who  has  shined  his  shoes  so  well,  in  the 
majority  of  cases  is  merely  contributing  to  the  already 
large  profits  of  the  boss,  and  enabling  him  to  extend  his 
questionable  business.  The  total  amount  of  these  tips  is 
considerable.  Mr.  Seraphic  states  that  they  run  from 
40  cents  per  day  per  boy  in  small  places,  to  $1  or  $2  per 
day  per  boy  in  the  large  cities.  This  is  often  enough  to 
pay  the  salary  of  the  boy  and  go  a good  ways  towards 
covering  his  expenses  also.  The  bosses  are  said  to  derive 
a clear  profit  of  from  $300  to  $500  per  year  on  each  boy. 
The  tipping  system,  combined  with  the  abundant  supply 
of  cheap  labor,  is  the  key  note  of  the  success  of  the  boot- 
blacking business  in  this  country  as  conducted  by  the 
Greeks. 

Summing  up  this  industry  among  the  Greeks,  Mr. 

* Omaha  Daily  Bee,  June  9 and  10,  1908. 

fDo. 


181 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Seraphic  says,  “The  conditions  now,  although  an  improve- 
ment over  what  they  were  four  years  ago,  are  still  so  bad 
as  to  deserve  unqualified  condemnation.”  The  question 
naturally  arises.  Why  do  the  boys  stand  it.^  The  answer 
has  already  been  hinted  at,  and  may  be  summed  up  in  one 
word — Ignorance.  These  boys  have  no  understanding  of 
laboring  conditions  or  rates  of  wages  in  this  country,  and 
with  their  lack  of  contact  with  Americans,  are  unable  to 
get  any.  In  general  their  condition,  except  in  the  matter 
of  length  of  hours,  is  as  good  as  they  would  expect  on  the 
other  side.  To  be  sure,  the  indoor  work  in  this  country 
is  much  worse  for  them  than  the  outdoor  life  v^hich  similar 
occupations  involve  in  Greece,  but  they  do  not  know 
enough  to  know  it.  Their  clothing  is  much  better  here 
than  there,  and  their  wages  seem  munificent.  In  fact  they 
excuse  the  bosses  for  keeping  their  tips  on  the  ground  that 
the  wages  are  high  and  expenses  heavy.  The  padrones 
intimidate  them  by  telling  them  that  they  are  all  violators 
of  the  law,  and  that  if  they  say  anything  the  officials  will 
get  track  of  them,  and  put  them  in  prison  or  send  them 
home.  So  thoroughly  are  they  imbued  with  this  idea  of 
silence  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  them  to  make  any 
complaints  against  their  employers,  and  time  after  time 
attempts  to  get  at  the  true  condition  of  affairs  and  secure 
the  boys  justice,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  have 
been  foiled  by  the  absolute  impossibility  of  getting  any 
evidence  from  the  only  available  source — the  boys  them- 
selves. When  put  on  the  stand,  the  boys  flatly  refuse  to 
answer  questions,  and  say  that  though  their  right  hands 
were  cut  off  they  would  not  talk.  This  reticence  is  partly 
due  to  the  suspicion  of  the  motives  of  the  Investigators 
which  the  bosses  have  instilled  into  their  minds,  and  partly 


182 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


to  a peculiar  loyalty  to  the  padrone  and  faithfulness  to  the 
terms  of  the  agreement  that  characterize  the  whole  class. 
And  when  a boy  does  get  a command  of  the  English  lan- 
guage and  a familiarity  with  the  ways  of  the  land,  instead 
of  turning  traitor  to  the  system,  he  simply  goes  into  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account,  and  puts  the  experience  of  his 
past  years  to  profit. 

The  statements  of  the  padrones  to  the  boys,  that  they 
are  all  law  breakers,  are  well  founded.  Mr.  Seraphic 
says  that  nine  out  of  ten  of  these  boys  are  in  the  country 
in  violation  of  law.  The  two  clauses  of  the  law,  which  are 
particularly  involved,  are  the  provision  regarding  con- 
tract laborers  and  the  clause  refusing  admission  to  alien 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  unless  accompanied 
by  one  or  both  of  their  parents.  In  evading  both  these 
laws  the  Greeks  display  their  characteristic  cunning  and 
unscrupulousness.  As  stated  above,  agreements  between 
padrones  and  parents  are  almost  always  verbal.  Any 
writing  that  has  to  be  done  is  generally  entrusted  to  a 
third  person.  The  fact  of  the  agreement  is  so  carefully 
concealed  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  any  evidence 
of  it.  The  boys  are  thoroughly  coached  before  landing, 
and  testify  positively  that  they  have  no  promise  of  work 
of  any  kind,  but  will  take  the  first  honest  job  they  can  find. 

The  age  law  is  evaded  usually  in  two  ways — by  fraudu- 
lent relationships  or  by  false  affidavits  of  age.  Both  are 
extremely  difficult  to  detect.  A crowd  of  Greeks  starting 
from  some  interior  village  can  easily  arrange  a scheme  of 
relationship  which  will  baffle  the  inspectors  and  answer 
every  purpose.  Oftentimes  a boy  will  state  that  he  is 
going  to  join  a father,  uncle  or  brother  in  some  city  of 
the  United  States,  giving  the  full  name  and  address. 

183 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Correspondence  sent  to  the  address  given  is  promptly 
answered,  and  the  statements  of  the  boy  are  substantiated 
in  full.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  let  the  boy  in. 
One  of  the  veteran  inspectors  told  me  of  such  a case,  where 
the  boy  claimed  that  a certain  man  in  St.  Louis  was  his 
father.  Authorities  on  Elhs  Island  at  once  telegraphed 
to  the  St.  Louis  man,  asking  whether  the  boy’s  statement 
was  true,  and  received  an  affirmative  answer.  The  boy 
was  allowed  to  go  on.  But  the  suspicions  of  the  authori- 
ties remained  active,  and  my  informant  eventually  made 
a trip  to  St.  Louis  to  investigate  the  case.  It  was  dis- 
covered that  the  presumptive  father  was  no  relation  at 
all,  but  a padrone  who  was  importing  boys  for  his  shop. 

The  matter  of  the  age  of  Greek  boys  has  caused  a great 
deal  of  trouble  to  the  authorities  in  this  country,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  immigration  laws,  but  also  on  account 
of  the  child  labor  laws  of  various  states.  The  boys  them- 
selves will  swear  to  whatever  age  is  necessary  to  secure 
their  admission  or  to  make  their  employment  legal  in  the 
place  they  are  living  in.  If  the  minimum  age  of  employ- 
ment is  fourteen  years,  it  is  amazing  how  many  Greek 
boys  there  will  be  just  fifteen  years  of  age.  The  expe- 
rience of  officials  in  these  cases  has  been  such  as  to  cause 
most  of  them  to  regard  the  affidavit  of  a Greek,  in  matters 
of  this  sort,  as  of  absolutely  no  value  whatever.  Recourse 
has  been  had  to  the  birth  certificates  sent  from  the  officials 
in  Greece,  but  these  too  have  come  to  be  regarded  as 
wholly  worthless.  There  is  no  official  record  of  births 
kept  in  Greece,  and  the  only  source  of  authority  as  to  the 
age  of  a child,  is  the  baptismal  certificate.  But  these  are 
not  kept  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  or  uniformity. 
When  the  United  States  government  wishes  to  ascertain 


184 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


the  age  of  any  Greek  boy,  the  mayor  of  his  village  is 
asked  to  send  a certificate.  But  this  mayor  is  probably 
a personal  friend  of  the  family,  or  at  any  rate  is  anxious 
to  please  his  constituency,  and  if  he  receives  an  intimation 
that  the  boy  in  question  is  supposed  to  be  at  least  seven- 
teen years  old,  in  a majority  of  cases  he  is  ready  to  make 
the  certificate  out  accordingly.  One  of  the  best-known 
Greeks  in  Lowell,  a young  man  of  high  aims  who  is  called 
on  to  do  a great  deal  of  interpreting,  pulled  out  from  his 
desk  a big  stack  of  yellow  papers,  all  of  which  he  said 
were  false  age  certificates,  and  represented  only  a small 
part  of  what  had  come  to  him.  Even  a true  certificate 
adds  a year  to  a boy’s  age,  for  the  Greeks  in  reckoning 
ages  count  the  year  upon  which  one  has  entered,  instead 
of  the  one  which  he  has  completed.  For  these  causes  it 
is  a very  difficult  matter  to  secure  convictions  on  these 
counts.  Nevertheless  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  govern- 
ment to  check  this  practice  have  not  been  wholly  fruitless, 
and  a number  of  convictions  have  been  secured.  For 
instance,  Mr.  Seraphic  in  his  report  mentions  eighteen 
indictments  in  Chicago,  on  the  grounds  of  conspiracy  and 
violation  of  section  8 of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1903  (con- 
cerning those  who  bring  in  aliens  not  lawfully  entitled  to 
admission).  Of  these,  eight  cases  resulted  in  convictions 
with  fines  of  from  $25  to  $500  and  from  thirty  to  sixty 
days  in  jail.  Nine  cases  were  still  pending.  Many 
would-be  violators  of  the  law  have  also  been  detected  at 
the  ports  of  arrival  and  refused  admission.  (See  page 
116.)  The  report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immi- 
gration for  1904  (page  38)  contains  the  following 
paragraph : 

[Violators  of  the  contract  labor  law]  “are  divided  into 


186 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


two  classes.  There  are  those  who  are  brought  to  do  work 
in  this  country  for  less  than  similar  laborers  here  would 
charge  for  the  same  work,  and  there  are  those  who  are 
brought  in  pursuance  of  what  is  popularly  known  as  the 
‘padrone  system’ — in  fact  a system  of  peonage  or  slavery. 
A familiar  instance  of  the  latter  class  is  found  in  the 
Greek  bootblacking  establishments  scattered  through  our 
large  cities,  operated  usually  by  Greek  lads  ranging  from 

ten  to  eighteen  years  of  age During  the  last  four 

months  of  the  year  there  arrived  at  the  port  of  Boston 
alone  898  of  these  youths,  127  of  whom  were  returned. 
. . . . The  greatest  care  is  exercised  to  stop  these  aliens 
and  return  them,  both  because  of  the  inconsistency  of  the 
padrone  system  with  those  principles  of  freedom  upon 
which  our  form  of  government  is  based,  and  because  the 
importation  of  contract  labor  is  forbidden.” 

Our  final  judgment  in  regard  to  the  padrone  system 
can  only  be  that  it  is  a standing  reproach  to  the  Greek 
population  of  the  United  States,  and  a menace  to  the  free 
labor  principles  of  our  country. 

Allied  to  the  padrone  system  is  the  contract  labor 
system  as  applied  to  the  railroad  laborers  in  the  Middle 
West.  Mr.  Seraphic  says  that  the  majority  of  these 
laborers  in  Nebraska,  Missouri  and  Kansas  are  imported 
in  violation  of  the  contract  labor  law.  The  system  of 
procedure  is  somewhat  as  follows : A semi- Americanized 
Greek  goes  to  a railroad  company,  and  agrees  to  furnish 
a certain  number  of  laborers.  He  then  goes  over  to  his 
own  country  and  persuades  fifty  or  one  hundred  men  to 
accompany  him  back  to  America.  He  supplies  them  with 
prepaid  tickets,  and  takes  a mortgage  on  their  property 
to  the  amount  of  two,  three  or  four  times  the  value  of  the 


186 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


ticket.  He  then  brings  them  with  him  back  to  America, 
and  makes  them  work  for  him  seven  or  eight  months  for 
nothing,  to  repay  him  for  an  outlay  of  probably  not  over 
$100  or  $125  each.  In  some  cases  an  importer,  who  has 
taken  mortgages  far  in  excess  of  the  amount  he  has 
expended,  will  arbitrarily  discharge  a crowd  of  men  two 
or  three  weeks  after  he  has  brought  them  over,  to  make 
room  for  another  similar  set.  Those  whom  he  has  dis- 
charged must  find  work  for  themselves  somewhere  to  pay 
off  their  mortgages.  The  Greeks  display  a strange  faith- 
fulness in  paying  off  debts  of  this  kind,  no  matter  how 
badly  they  have  been  treated,  even  if  the  agreement  was 
simply  oral.  Other  agents  or  “interpreters”  pick  up 
their  men  in  this  country,  particularly  in  Chicago.  The 
railroad  company  agrees  to  pay  the  interpreter  a certain 
sum  per  man  for  a gang  of  forty  or  so  men,  and  the  inter- 
preter pays  the  men  whatever  he  can  get  them  for,  usually 
sufficiently  less  to  leave  him  a handsome  margin  of  profit. 
Systems  similar  to  the  ones  above  described  are  in  vogue 
in  the  fruit-peddling  business  in  Illinois,  and  even  in  the 
factory  industries  of  Lowell  and  the  neighboring  towns. 
In  fact,  one  of  the  greatest  indictments  against  the 
Greeks  in  this  country — perhaps  the  greatest — is  their 
habit  of  exploiting  each  other.  When  a Greek  gets  a 
certain  mastery  of  American  ways,  the  chances  are  that 
he  will  at  once  begin  to  put  his  acquirements  to  use  in 
making  money  out  of  his  less  experienced  countrymen. 
As  has  been  seen,  this  may  be  done  in  a variety  of  ways. 
One  of  the  immigration  officials  in  Omaha  told  me  that  the 
Greeks  never  missed  an  opportunity  to  press  any  advan- 
tage of  this  sort.  If  a Greek  who  knows  a little  English 
sees  a policeman  engaged  in  some  altercation  with  a Greek 


187 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


peddler  or  push-cart  man,  the  former  immediately  encour- 
ages the  officer  to  arrest  the  latter,  and  then  offers  to  act 
as  interpreter  in  order  that  he  may  get  the  fee.  This  is 
of  course  an  unimportant  case,  but  it  well  illustrates  the 
attitude  of  mind. 

In  evading  the  laws  which  prohibit  these  nefarious  prac- 
tices, the  Greek  shows  himself  a master  of  every  trick  and 
artifice.  False  affidavits,  assumed  names,  and  plain  lying 
are  all  used  with  the  greatest  effect.  There  is  a little 
book  pubhshed  in  Greek  in  Patras  which  contains  full 
instructions  as  to  the  proper  answers  to  make  to  the  in- 
quiries of  the  immigration  authorities,  in  order  to  best 
secure  admission.  When  it  comes  to  the  question  in 
regard  to  any  promise  of  employment,  it  informs  the  immi- 
grant that  here  is  the  place  to  be  firm,  and  whatever  the 
facts  may  be  to  put  on  a bold  front,  and  answer  that  he 
has  no  idea  of  what  he  is  going  to  do,  but  will  take  the 
first  honest  job  he  can  find.  A significant  paragraph 
warns  the  immigrant  to  destroy  the  book  before  reaching 
the  shores  of  America. 

It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  because  these  prac- 
tices are  characteristic  of  the  race,  that  they  are  univer- 
sal. It  is  only  justice  to  say  that  a large  number  of  the 
more  enlightened  Greeks  in  this  country  are  just  as  much 
opposed  as  anybody  to  these  abuses,  and  are  willing  to  do 
all  in  their  power  to  stop  them. 

The  industries  which  have  been  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages  employ  the  great  bulk  of  the  Greeks  in  the 
United  States.  The  class  of  occupations  which  ranks 
next  in  importance  is  that  which  we  have  seen  exemplified 
in  the  case  of  Lowell,  employment  in  factories.  In  these 
occupations  the  Greeks  may  be  said  to  rank  about  on  a 

188 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


level  with  the  other  nationalities  among  whom  they  work. 
Employers  as  a rule  speak  well  of  them  as  factory  hands, 
though  some  of  the  factories  in  Maine  have  found  them 
too  excitable  and  unsteady  to  be  good  workers,  and  are 
turning  them  off.  As  far  as  the  Greeks  themselves  are 
concerned,  however,  it  would  appear  that  factory  employ- 
ment is  the  most  disadvantageous  of  any  of  the  charac- 
teristic occupations  into  which  they  enter  in  this  country. 
It  tends  to  crowd  them  together  in  unhealthy  tenements, 
which  they  do  not  know  how,  or  do  not  care,  to  keep  in  the 
most  sanitary  condition  possible.  It  leads  to  the  employ- 
ment of  young  girls  in  unhygienic  factories.  The  close 
and  dust-laden  air  proves  disastrous  to  both  old  and 
young,  accustomed  as  they  are  to  the  open  air  of  their 
native  fields  and  hillsides.  In,  such  employment  there  is 
not  the  same  opportunity  for  advancement  and  material 
progress  as  there  is  when  the  Greek  can  employ  his  native 
talents  in  the  prosecution  of  some  independent  business. 

In  all  these  avocations,  the  Greeks  display  that  remark- 
able adaptability  and  versatility  which  is  so  characteristic 
of  the  race.  When  it  is  remembered  that  practically  all  of 
them  come  from  a purely  pastoral  or  agricultural  life, 
perhaps  never  having  been  in  a city  of  10,000  inhabitants, 
nor  ever  having  engaged  in  any  larger  mercantile  transac- 
tion than  the  sale  of  a few  dollars’  worth  of  farm  produce, 
it  is  decidedly  surprising  to  see  them  succeeding  so  well  in 
the  highly  developed  commercial  life  of  our  nation. 

Scattered  over  the  country  are  small  groups  of  Greeks 
engaged  in  a variety  of  miscellaneous  occupations.  On 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  near  Newport,  and  of  the 
Pacific  around  San  Francisco,  are  little  settlements  of 
Greek  fishers.  In  Florida,  with  their  headquarters  at 


189 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Tarpon  Springs,  is  quite  a colony  of  Greek  sponge  fishers, 
said  to  be  the  superiors  in  their  line  of  any  people  in  the 
world.  The  railroad  workers  who  have  already  been 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  contract  labor  problem 
are  a numerous  body,  and  are  considered  very  good  work- 
men. In  Utah  there  are  a number  of  miners,  while  still 
further  west,  in  California,  the  Greeks  have  become  well 
established  in  the  fruit-raising  business.  The  steamships 
sailing  to  and  from  American  ports  carry  a number  of 
Greek  firemen,  and  they  are  also  employed  in  some  sta- 
tionary plants  on  shore,  where  they  are  said  to  render 
excellent  service. 

The  number  of  Greek  farmers  in  this  country  is  sur- 
prisingly small,  when  their  origin  is  considered.  There 
are  a few  farmers  around  Boston,  and  very  probably  in 
other  parts  of  the  country,  but  they  are  so  few  as  to 
attract  no  attention.  The  reasons  for  this  state  of  affairs 
are  probably  that  farming  in  this  country  as  a rule  re- 
quires a considerable  amount  of  capital,  and  that  no 
Greek  has  so  far  made  a conspicuous  success  in  this  de- 
partment. One  reason  suggested  by  a thoughtful  Greek 
seems  to  have  a good  deal  of  weight — namely,  that  igno- 
rance of  the  language  makes  it  very  difficult  for  a Greek 
to  get  a start  in  this  direction,  far  away  from  others  of 
his  race.  If  a little  farming  colony  of  Greeks  could  once 
be  well  started  there  is  every  probability  that  it  would 
succeed,  and  prosper,  and  increase.  One  enterprising 
Greek  of  Lowell,  who  has  already  been  referred  to, 
cherishes  the  idea  of  sometime  securing  a tract  of  land, 
say  in  Texas,  and  organizing  such  a colony.  For  the  sake 
of  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  of  our  own  country,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  this  commendable  plan  will  materialize. 

190 


CHAPTER  IX 


Social  Conditions 

TN  whatever  occupations  the  Greeks  enter,  the  majority 
of  them  are  successful,  at  least  from  a pecuniary 
point  of  view.  This  is  due  both  to  their  native  business 
ability  and  to  their  thrifty,  and  more  than  thrifty,  abste- 
mious, habits  of  life.  The  earnings  of  the  laboring  class 
are  not  large.  As  we  have  seen,  factory  hands  earn  on 
the  average  about  $9  per  week;  boys  in  the  shoe-shining 
parlors,  about  $200  per  year  and  their  keep ; railroad 
laborers  receive  about  $1.45  per  day.  The  profits  of  men 
engaged  in  independent  business  of  course  vary,  and  any 
estimated  average  would  have  little  significance.  But 
however  small  the  yearly  receipts  may  be,  the  Greek  almost 
invariably  manages  to  save  part  of  them,  usually  about 
half.  Part  of  this  money  is  laid  away,  but  a goodly  share 
is  sent  home.  Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  estimate 
the  amount  of  money  that  passes  in  this  way  from  America 
to  Greece  each  year.  This  is  a difficult  thing  to  accom- 
plish owing  to  the  fact  that  the  remittances  are  made  in 
many  different  forms,  postal  money  orders,  checks,  drafts 
and  American  paper  money.  Statistics  of  these  matters 
are  not  carefully  kept  in  Greece.  Mr.  Horton  states  that 
a conservative  estimate  places  the  amount  of  money  sent 
from  America  to  Greece  in  1903  at  about  $4,000,000;  in 
1904,  about  $3,000,000.  The  postmaster-general  of 
Greece,  about  1906,  estimated  this  flow  of  money  at  about 
$8,000,000,  but  as  his  only  certain  basis  of  judgment  was 
the  amount  of  the  single  item  of  postal  money  orders. 


191 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


which  he  reckoned  as  one-eighth  of  the  total,  his  figure  is 
hardly  more  than  a shrewd  guess.  The  director  of  the 
Tripolis  branch  of  the  Ionian  Bank  told  me  that  the 
annual  amount  of  money  sent  from  America  to  Greece 
averaged  in  ordinary  years  about  $4,000,000,  though  in 
1908  on  account  of  the  crisis  it  fell  off  considerably.  The 
post  office  in  Tripolis  received  the  following  amounts  in 
money  orders  from  America  in  the  years  named;  the 
approximate  equivalent  in  American  money  is  given : 


1905 

. $18,383.00 

1906 

. 65,330.00 

1907 

54,453.00 

1908 

. 39,412.00 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Speare  in  an  article  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can Review  estimates  the  total  amount  of  money  sent  from 
the  United  States  to  Greece  in  this  way  at  $5,000,000,  or 
an  average  of  $50  per  capita.  This  is  the  highest  average 
remittance  of  any  of  the  nationalities  mentioned  in  the 
article,  the  figures  given  for  the  other  races  being  as 
follows:  Germans,  $4.05;  English  and  Irish,  $7.14; 
Italians,  $30.00;  Slavs,  $28.10;  Russians,  $14.80.* 

The  career  of  many  of  the  Greeks  in  this  country  is  an 
interesting  story  of  very  rapid  progress  from  penury  to 
comparative  affluence.  The  New  York  Times  of  December 
16,  1907,  gives  an  account  of  a Greek  who  came  to  St. 
Louis  penniless,  and  started  business  as  a push-cart  man. 
In  ten  years  he  had  amassed  over  $100,000  and  left  for 
his  native  land  to  start  a bank.  The  individual  story  may 
or  may  not  be  authentic,  but  as  a type  it  is  true.  Thirteen 
years  ago  a Greek  immigrant  landed  in  New  York  City 

* Quoted  in  the  Report  of  the  Ministry-at-Large,  Lowell,  Mass., 
1907,  page  8. 


192 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


with  one  franc  in  his  pocket.  At  that  time  there  were 
only  about  300  persons  of  his  nationality  in  the  city.  For 
the  first  few  months  he  worked  in  a laundry,  and  then 
went  into  the  cigarette  business  for  a few  months  more. 
By  that  time  he  had  managed  to  save  enough  money  to 
start  a little  importing  business  on  his  own  account.  His 
first  shipment  was  a little  oil,  a case  of  cheese,  and  one 
or  two  other  small  items  of  like  nature.  He  now  has  a 
fiourishing  importing  and  grocery  business,  with  two 
stores  on  Madison  Street,  and  was  president  of  the  Greek 
Orthodox  Community  when  the  Greeks  of  the  city  were 
united.  Not  all  Greeks  of  course  have  as  prosperous  a 
career  as  this ; some  do  better,  many  worse.  There  are  a 
few  Greek  firms  in  the  country  whose  capital  mounts  well 
up  into  the  millions,  and  there  are  many  Greeks  who  are 
making  the  barest  living.  But  practically  every  Greek 
in  the  country  is  self-supporting — either  by  his  own  labors 
or  by  the  labors  of  others  whom  he  controls.  We  have 
seen  that  in  Chicago,  Lowell,  New  York  and  Lincoln  the 
Greeks  are  a negligible  factor  in  the  work  of  the  various 
charitable  organizations  in  these  cities.  The  same  condi- 
tions are  found  wherever  inquiries  are  made.  Even  in  the 
cities  where  there  are  the  largest  Greek  colonies,  applica- 
tions for  relief  from  people  of  this  race  are  almost  un- 
known. 

Turning  to  the  national  aspect  of  this  question  we  find 
the  evidence  the  same.  The  publication  of  the  Census 
Bureau  on  Paupers  in  Almshouses  includes  Greeks  in  the 
category  “Other  Nationalities,”  so  that  no  information 
for  our  purposes  can  be  secured  from  this  volume. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  the  officials  of  the  Census 
Bureau,  however,  the  complete  set  of  the  original  schedules 


193 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


on  which  this  report  is  based,  were  placed  at  my  disposal. 
The  figures  given  are  for  paupers  in  almshouses  on  Decem- 
ber 31,  1903,  when  according  to  our  estimate  (see  page 
111)  there  were  about  35,000  Greeks  in  the  country.  On 
examination  of  these  schedules  it  very  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  it  was  a waste  of  time  to  look  over  the  reports 
for  states  where  the  Greek  population  was  small.  But  a 
careful  examination  was  made  of  the  reports  of  a number 
of  states,  particularly  those  in  which  the  great  part  of 
the  Greek  population  was  known  to  be  gathered.  The 
results  of  this  inquiry  are  as  follows : 


state 
Alabama 
Arizona  . 
Arkansas 
California 
Illinois 
Colorado 
Connecticut 
Delaware 
Massachusetts 
Missouri  . 
New  York 


Number  of 
Greek  Paupers 

. None 
. None 
. None 
8 

. None 
. None 
. None 
. None 
2 

. None 

1 


The  report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration 
for  the  year  1905  (pages  60-62)  gives  a series  of  tables 
showing  the  nationality  of  aliens  detained  in  the  penal, 
reformatory  and  charitable  institutions  of  the  United 
States.  The  total  number  of  inmates  was  44,985,  of 
whom  103,  or  0.2  per  cent  were  Greeks.  Of  the  Greeks 
twenty-one  were  in  institutions  for  the  insane,  and  forty- 
four  in  penal  institutions.  As  according  to  our  estimate 
there  were  in  1905  about  57,000  Greeks  in  the  United 
States,  this  is  a very  creditable  showing. 

194 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


In  discussing  the  question  of  dependence,  however,  it  is 
essential  to  bear  in  mind  the  sex  and  age  distribution  of 
the  immigrants.  This  has  been  considered  on  pages  112 
and  113,  where  it  was  remarked  that  about  96  per  cent 
of  the  Greek  immigrants  are  males,  and  that  nearly  90 
per  cent  are  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  forty-five. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  most  of  the  remaining  10 
per  cent  are  boys  under  fourteen,  brought  over  to  do 
some  form  of  productive  labor,  and  it  becomes  evident 
that  the  body  of  Greek  immigrants  is  an  army  of  workers 
in  the  prime  of  life,  with  all  the  patently  incapable  indi- 
viduals weeded  out  by  the  severe  selective  processes  of  the 
immigration  regulations.  In  such  a body  we  should 
hardly  expect  to  find  a large  proportion  of  dependents. 
Another  circumstance  tending  to  produce  the  same  result 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  great  bulk  of  Greek  immi- 
grants have  been  in  this  country  less  than  five  years. 
They  have  not  had  time  to  exhaust  their  youthful  strength 
and  energy,  or  to  fall,  in  any  large  numbers,  into  disease 
or  other  misfortune.  It  is  a well-known  fact  that  the 
foreign-born  paupers  in  this  country  are  almost  wholly 
individuals  who  have  been  here  a number  of  years.  Of 
the  foreign-born  paupers  in  the  United  States  in  1900 
whose  length  of  residence  in  the  country  was  known,  96 
per  cent  had  been  here  ten  years  or  more.*  In  fact,  this 
point  is  so  fundamental  that  Mr.  William  S.  Rossiter,  the 
chief  clerk  of  the  Census  Bureau,  in  discussing  the  favor- 
able showing  made  by  the  Greeks  in  this  respect,  expressed 
the  opinion  that  statistics  in  regard  to  the  dependence  of 
so  recently  immigrating  a group  of  aliens  as  the  Greeks 

* Census  Publications,  Paupers  in  Almshouses,  page  101. 


195 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


were  of  practically  no  significance.  That  this  is  over- 
stating the  case  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  a recent  year 
7 per  cent  of  the  Jewish  immigrants  to  the  entire  United 
States  applied  for  relief  at  the  office  of  the  United  Hebrew 
Charities  within  a few  months  after  their  arrival.  Yet 
there  is  no  doubt  that  length  of  residence  is  of  vital  im- 
portance in  determining  the  liability  of  aliens  to  fall  into 
dependence  in  this  country.  In  this  connection  it  is  in- 
structive to  examine  the  individual  records  of  the  eleven 
Greek  paupers  who  are  reported  in  the  census  schedules. 

Eight  of  these  eleven  paupers  were  in  California  insti- 
tutions. Here  is  a brief  abstract  of  their  record: 

C.  S.,  age  62,  years  in  U.  S.  30,  fisherman,  crippled,  bed- 
ridden, paralytie. 

J.  M.,  age  57,  years  in  U.  S.  10,  fisherman,  blind,  bedridden, 
rheumatic. 

G.  D.,  age  74,  years  in  U.  S.  53,  miner,  able-bodied. 

S.  J.,  age  75,  years  in  U.  S.  44,  sailor  and  odd-jobber,  old 
and  infirm,  paralytic. 

C.  D.  B.,  age  73,  years  in  U.  S.  43,  sailor  and  miner, 
crippled,  old  and  infirm,  rheumatic. 

A.  M.,  age  64,  years  in  U.  S.  27,  fisherman,  incapacitated 
for  labor. 

A.  G.,  age  65,  years  in  U.  S.  7,  fisherman,  feeble-minded, 
crippled,  bedridden. 

G.  M.,  age  66,  years  in  U.  S.  30,  laborer,  crippled,  old  and 
infirm. 

The  two  Greek  paupers  in  Massachusetts  were  in  the 
State  Hospital  at  Tewksbury.  Following  is  their  record: 

P.  L.,  age  23,  years  in  U.  S.  1,  laborer,  crippled,  maimed  or 
deformed. 

N.  R.,  age  40,  years  in  U.  S.  2,  laborer,  rheumatic. 


196 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


The  one  pauper  in  New  York  was  an  able-bodied  youth 
of  seventeen,  a confectioner,  who  had  been  in  the  United 
States  two  years. 

This  is  too  small  a body  of  data  from  which  to  draw 
any  definite  conclusions  with  safety.  But  as  far  as  the 
evidence  of  these  records  goes,  it  all  leads  us  to  expect  that 
when  the  Greeks  have  been  in  this  country  a generation  or 
so,  there  will  be  a much  larger  proportion  of  them  de- 
pendent upon  public  charity.  Another  striking  fact  about 
these  paupers  is  that  they  were  all  males.  This  might  be 
expected  when  we  consider  how  large  a proportion  of  the 
Greek  population  of  this  country  is  made  up  of  males,  but 
it  suggests  that  if  the  time  ever  comes  when  the  Greeks 
begin  to  emigrate  by  families  so  that  a man  must  support 
a wife  and  several  children  in  addition  to  himself,  there 
will  probably  be  an  increase  in  the  dependence  of  this 
race.  An  interesting  bit  of  contributory  evidence  is  fur-^ 
nished  by  the  cases  of  the  Irish  and  Germans,  both  of 
which  races  are  popularly  considered  superior  to  the 
“newer  immigrants,”  but  both  of  which  have  been  in  the 
United  States  much  longer  than  the  Greeks,  Italians, 
Slavs,  etc.  The  report  on  Paupers  in  Almshouses, 
already  referred  to,  gives  (Table  7)  a total  of  32,136 
foreign-born  paupers  in  the  almshouses  of  the  United 
States.  Of  these  7,477  were  of  German  origin,  and  14,923 
were  Irish.  Anyone  looking  over  the  census  schedules  is 
forcibly  struck  by  the  continual  recurrence  of  names  be- 
longing to  these  two  nationalities.  These  facts  admit  of 
two  interpretations : first,  that  perhaps  these  races  are 
not  so  much  superior,  at  least  in  a financial  way,  to  the 
southern  races  as  we  are  inclined  to  think;  second,  that 
their  much  longer  average  period  of  residence  has  largely 


197 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


increased  their  liability  to  dependence.  There  is  probably 
a good  deal  of  truth  in  both  these  explanations,  but  the 
latter  is  much  the  more  important.  To  what  extent  the 
Greeks  will  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  older  immigrants 
in  the  matter  of  dependence  during  the  next  thirty  or 
forty  years  can  only  be  conjectured.  Whether  they  will 
have  the  ability,  foresight  and  determination  to  lay  up,  in 
the  years  of  prosperity,  sufficient  property  to  maintain 
themselves  and  their  families  during  the  period  of  old 
age  which  is  bound  to  come,  or  the  temporary  exigencies 
of  sickness  and  misfortune,  is  something  which  time  alone 
can  tell.  It  seems  probable  that  the  great  majority  of 
them  will,  unless  the  money  sent  home  is  allowed  to  cut 
too  heavily  into  their  savings. 

For  the  present,  at  any  rate,  we  can  say  that  the  Greeks 
in  America  are  distinctly  a self-supporting  race.  This  is 
due  in  part  to  the  conditions  of  age,  sex  and  length  of 
residence  which  we  have  just  been  considering,  in  part  to 
their  business  ability  and  thrift,  and  in  part  to  their  in- 
born scorn  of  public  assistance.  Unfortunately  it  is  also 
due  in  part  to  the  extremely  abstemious  habits  of  life  of  a 
large  proportion  of  them.  The  living  conditions  of  the 
Greeks  have  been  briefly  considered  in  the  cases  of  Chicago, 
New  York  and  Lincoln,  and  described  in  detail  in  the  case 
of  Lowell.  These  cities  may  be  taken  as  typical  in  this 
respect,  as  they  are  in  others,  of  the  other  Greek  colonies 
in  the  United  States.  The  almost  entire  absence  of  family 
life  among  the  Greeks  in  this  country  has  already  been 
commented  on.  There  are  less  than  five  per  cent  Greek 
women  in  this  country,  and  while  a few  of  the  men  have 
married  American  women,  their  number  is  inconsiderable. 
The  habitual  custom  of  life  for  people  of  this  race  is  for  a 


198 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


group  of  men — four,  five,  six  or  more — to  hire  a room  or 
a suite  of  rooms  and  use  them  as  their  common  apartments. 
Part  of  the  meals  are  frequently  cooked  in  these  rooms, 
and  the  rest — often  all — of  the  food  is  secured  outside  at 
restaurants.  Coming  from  the  outdoor,  village  life  of 
Greece  these  men  have  no  understanding  of  the  funda- 
mental rules  of  hygiene,  and  either  do  not  know  how,  or  do 
not  care,  to  keep  their  rooms  in  decent  condition.  There 
is  very  little  ventilation  either  by  day  or  by  night.  The 
food  is  often  meager  and  lacking  in  nourishment.  As  a 
result  of  these  conditions  there  is  a great  deal  of  disease, 
particularly  tuberculosis,  among  the  Greeks.  It  is  a very 
common  thing  to  meet  in  Greece  men  who  have  been  in 
America  a few  years  and  have  had  to  return  on  account  of 
ill  health.  These  living  conditions  in  America  are  well 
understood  in  Greece,  and  deter  some  from  coming.  In 
many  cases,  however,  America  gets  more  blame  than  it 
deserves.  Tuberculosis  is  becoming  a very  serious  disease 
in  Greece,  and  many  of  the  men  who  return  from  the 
United  States  in  a tubercular  condition,  already  had  the 
disease,  or  a tendency  towards  it,  when  they  left  their 
native  villages. 

These  conditions  are,  of  course,  found  at  their  worst  in 
the  crowded  sections  of  the  large  cities,  particularly  in 
the  factory  colonies.  As  the  Greeks  become  Americanized, 
or  scatter  out  into  the  smaller  places,  their  living  condi- 
tions improve.  One  of  the  Orthodox  priests  received  me 
in  a home  which  was  as  neat  and  attractive  as  could  be 
desired.  The  life  of  the  laborers  on  the  railroads  of  the 
West  is  decidedly  preferable  to,  and  more  hygienic  than, 
that  of  the  city  dwellers.  On  the  whole,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  in  the  matter  of  living  conditions  the  Greeks  are 


199 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


more  cleanly  and  in  general  more  respectable  than  the 
Italians. 

In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  the  criminal  record  of  the 
Greeks  from  a national  point  of  view  I had  similar  advan- 
tages to  those  which  were  accorded  me  in  the  investigation 
of  pauperism ; the  original  census  schedules  for  penal  in- 
stitutions were  put  at  my  disposal.  The  four  states,  Cali- 
fornia, Illinois,  Massachusetts  and  New  York  were  chosen 
for  examination  as  they  contain  the  bulk  of  the  Greek 
population.  The  figures  are  for  the  admissions  to  the 
various  penal  institutions  for  the  year  ending  December 
31,  1904,  when,  according  to  our  estimate,  the  total  Greek 
population  of  the  United  States  was  about  45,500.  Dur- 
ing that  year  there  were  two  Greeks  admitted  to  the 
penal  institutions  of  Cahfornia,  one  for  infamous  felony, 
sentence  four  years ; one  for  counterfeiting,  sentence  one 
year.  Three  Greeks  were  admitted  to  the  Illinois  insti- 
tutions. One  of  these  was  for  manslaughter,  sentence  in- 
determinate ; the  second  for  I’eceiving  stolen  property, 
sentence  sixty  days ; the  third  for  mayhem,  sentence  six 
months.  The  Massachusetts  institutions  received  only  one 
Greek,  charge,  indecent  exposure,  sentence  two  years.  The 
New  York  institutions  received  thirteen  Greeks  during  the 
year  in  question,  with  charges  as  follows : Assault,  six 
months ; false  citizenship  papers,  thirty  days ; vagrancy, 
six  months ; two  cases  counterfeit  money,  one  month  and 
$100  each;  disorderly  conduct,  one  month;  liquor  law, 
twenty  days ; carrying  weapons,  four  cases,  two  days 
each ; petit  larceny,  thirty-six  days ; violation  penal  code, 
six  months. 

This  makes  a total  of  nineteen  admissions  to  the  penal 
Institutions  of  these  four  states,  in  which  in  the  year  in 


200 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


question  there  were,  according  to  the  Thermopylae  Alma- 
nac, 29,796  Greeks  altogether.  This  is  a very  insignifi- 
cant number  of  criminals,  and  it  should  be  noted  further 
that  the  majority  of  the  offenses  were  of  a minor  nature. 
The  report  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration 
for  1905  in  the  tables  already  referred  to  (see  page  194) 
records  forty-four  Greek  criminals  in  the  penal  institutions 
of  the  United  States,  of  whom  nineteen  were  committed 
for  grave  offenses  and  twenty-five  for  minor  offenses.  It 
thus  becomes  plain  that  grave  offenses,  leading  to  peni- 
tentiary sentences  and  other  heavy  punishments,  are  rare 
among  the  Greeks.  We  have  already  seen  from  the  ex- 
amples of  Chicago,  Lowell  and  New  York  that  minor 
offenses  are  extremely  common.  The  evidence  from  New 
Haven  is  the  same.  Out  of  a very  small  Greek  population 
in  this  city  there  were  fifteen  arrests  between  January  1, 
1907,  and  October  31,  1908,  but  the  heaviest  punishment 
in  any  case  was  a fine  of  $10  and  costs. 

The  police  records  of  Boston  furnish  a very  interesting 
commentary  on  the  nature  of  Greek  criminality.  The 
following  table  gives  the  number  of  arrests  of  Greeks  in 
that  city  for  the  years  1902-1907  inclusive: 

Year  1902  1903  1904  1905  1906  1907 

Arrests  287  313  384  348  330  278 

As  the  number  of  arrests  remained  nearly  constant 
while  the  total  Greek  population  of  the  city  was  increasing 
from  a few  hundred  to  2,000  or  more,  there  is  evidence  of  a 
decided  decrease  in  criminal  tendencies  among  these  people. 
This  corresponds  with  what  we  have  found  to  be  true  in 
tbe  other  cities  which  we  have  examined.  A further  evi- 
dence, along  with  a suggested  explanation,  is  furnished  by 


201 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Mr.  Bushee  in  his  work  on  the  “Ethnic  Factors  in  the 
Population  of  Boston.”  On  page  98  he  gives  a table 
showing  the  average  percentage  of  arrests  to  the  total 
population  of  each  nationality  for  the  years  1894,  1895 
and  1896.  This  is  reproduced  here  for  purposes  of 
comparison. 


City  (total) 

Per  cent. 

8.9 

Portugal  . 

. 3.7 

Germany 

4.2 

Russia 

; 

Poland 

United  States 

7.1 

British  America 

8.1 

France 

. 11.6 

England 

. 11.8 

Sweden 

. 11.8 

Italy  . 

. 12.1 

Scotland 

. 14.0 

Ireland 

. 16.2 

Norway 

. 20.1 

China 

. 65.1 

Greece 

. 352.2 

The  total  Greek  population  at  this  time  was  about  107. 
Mr.  Bushee  goes  on  to  say  (page  103)  : 

“On  the  average  every  Greek  in  the  city  is  arrested 

over  three  times  in  a year Neither  nationality 

(Greeks  or  Chinese)  is  made  up  of  such  abandoned 
criminals  as  the  figures  would  seem  to  indicate,  as  the 
criminal  records  of  both  cease  almost  entirely  at  the  police 
courts.  The  explanation  is  simple:  the  Greeks  are  nearly 
all  peddlers,  and  many  among  them  take  the  risk  of 
peddling  without  a Hcense,  with  the  result  that  a wholesale 
arrest  of  peddlers  takes  place  until  all  have  obtained  their 


202 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


licenses.  In  the  case  of  the  Chinese  the  explanation  is  to 

be  found  in  their  love  of  gambling The  Italians 

are  responsible  for  a larger  amount  of  serious  crime  than 
any  other  nationality  excepting  the  negroes.” 

In  regard  to  the  Greeks  in  this  country  we  may  say  in 
general  that  while  they  very  seldom  commit  serious 
crimes,  they  appear  to  have  no  particular  respect  for  law 
as  such,  and  the  number  of  minor  offenses  committed  by 
people  of  this  race  is  probably  greater,  in  proportion  to 
their  total  population,  than  that  of  any  other  foreign 
nationality  in  the  country,  and  very  much  greater  than 
that  of  the  native-born.  As  we  consider  the  nature  of 
these  offenses,  and  the  marked  decrease  in  criminality 
among  the  Greeks  which  the  statistics  uniformly  indicate, 
we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  crime  among  the  Greeks 
is  largely  a matter  of  economic  position.  When  the 
immigrant  first  comes  to  this  country  his  one  thought  is 
to  save  money.  He  enters  some  trade  which  brings  him 
into  conflict  with  the  city  ordinances.  Perhaps  he  is  a 
push-cart  man  and  takes  the  chance  that  the  fines  that 
he  may  have  to  pay  for  selling  without  a license  will  not, 
in  a year,  amount  to  so  much  in  the  aggregate  as  the 
original  cost  of  a license.  Or  he  may  be  a mere  peddler 
of  flowers  or  other  goods  and  be  arrested  for  making  a 
stand  in  the  street.  Or  again  his  offense  may  be  for 
violation  of  the  sanitary  code  in  the  care  of  the  miserable 
room  which  he  has  chosen  to  live  in.  As  he  progresses 
financially,  and  becomes  established  in  a permanent  busi- 
ness, and  improves  his  quarters,  these  temptations  dis- 
appear, and  his  face  is  no  longer  seen  in  the  police  court. 
To  be  sure,  there  is  a host  of  newcomers  every  year  to 
take  the  place  of  those  who  have  moved  up,  but  the  general 


203 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


average  length  of  residence  of  the  Greeks  in  the  United 
States  is  increasing  year  by  year,  and  with  it  the  average 
of  business  prosperity  is  also  increasing.  There  is  reason 
to  hope  that  with  the  passage  of  the  years  the  criminal 
record  of  the  Greeks  will  come  to  compare  more  favorably 
with  that  of  our  other  foreign  populations. 

A class  of  offenses  which  perhaps  ranks  second  among 
the  Greeks  to  violations  of  the  corporation  ordinances, 
and  in  some  cases  is  included  under  corporation  ordi- 
nances, is  that  designated  as  disorderly  conduct.  In  this 
case,  too,  an  extenuating  circumstance  is  found  in  the 
extreme  natural  excitability  of  the  Greeks.  A noisy 
altercation  which  disturbs  a whole  block,  and  seems  to  the 
police  officer  to  threaten  a fatal  culmination,  may  be  the 
friendliest  kind  of  an  argument.  The  police  officer  of 
course  cannot  get  at  the  true  nature  of  the  case  and  the 
whole  lot  are  taken  off  to  the  police  station.  As  the 
Greeks  become  more  Americanized  this  class  of  offense 
may  also  diminish. 

Juvenile  delinquency  is  very  rare  among  the  Greeks,  as 
might  be  expected  from  the  fact  that  the  number  of  chil- 
dren among  them  is  very  small  and  that  most  of  these  are 
employed  all  day  and  part  of  the  night  under  strict  super- 
vision. In  the  census  schedules  for  institutions  for  delin- 
quent children  in  the  states  of  California,  Illinois,  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  York,  taken  December  SI,  1904,  there 
appear  the  names  of  only  two  Greek  children,  one  a boy 
of  eighteen  who  had  been  in  this  country  seven  years, 
arrested  for  burglary,  the  other  a lad  of  fourteen,  in  this 
country  four  years,  arrested  as  a disorderly  child.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  juvenile  delinquents  among  the  foreign- 
born  are  a minor  element.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 


204 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


a very  large  number  of  this  class  of  offenders  among  the 
native-born  of  foreign  parents.  This  fact  should  give 
us  food  for  thought,  when  we  reflect  on  how  enormous  this 
class  of  our  population  is  becoming. 

The  statistics  of  pauperism,  crime,  etc.,  for  Greeks  are 
given  a slight  element  of  uncertainty,  or  inaccuracy,  by 
the  difficulty  of  determining  certainly  the  race  of  many 
of  the  offenders.  Ordinarily,  the  reports  give  the  nativity, 
not  the  race,  of  the  individuals  concerned,  and  as  many 
of  our  Greek  immigrants  are  born  in  Turkey  and  in  other 
countries  outside  of  Greece,  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
determine  the  race  of  a small  number  of  those  concerned. 
Foreigners  will  frequently  prevaricate  in  regard  to  their 
race,  for  purposes  of  their  own.  In  the  midst  of  the 
Italian  colony  of  Jersey  City  and  in  Inwood,  L.  I.,  there 
are  colonies  of  people  who  call  themselves,  and  are  called 
by  their  neighbors,  “Greeks,”  though  they  come  from 
Central  Italy,  and  are  apparently  of  Albanian  origin. 
But  these  uncertainties  are  in  no  case  probably  of  suffi- 
cient weight  to  affect  our  general  conclusions,  as  the  great 
body  of  Greek  immigrants  still  come  from  Greece  proper. 

In  respect  to  the  vices  of  drinking  and  gambling  the 
Greeks  maintain  much  the  same  character  in  this  country 
as  in  their  home  land.  Gambling  is  very  prevalent  among 
them  and  many  of  the  arrests,  which  we  have  seen  to  be 
so  frequent,  are  connected  with  this  practice.  In  the 
matter  of  drink,  their  habits  suffer  a slight  deterioration. 
In  the  place  of  the  light  wines  of  their  native  land,  some 
of  them  substitute  beer,  and  occasionally  whiskey.  But 
for  the  most  part,  Greeks  in  this  country  exercise  an 
admirable  degree  of  control  in  the  use  of  intoxicants,  and 
intemperance  is  far  from  being  a prevalent  evil  among 

205 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


them.  The  coffee-house  fills  the  place  of  the  saloon  as  a 
social  center,  and  coffee  prepared  in  the  Turkish  style  is 
still  the  favorite  beverage  of  the  Greeks.  Tobacco  is 
used  very  generally  in  this  country,  as  in  the  home  land. 

When  we  turn  to  sexual  immorality,  however,  it  appears 
that  the  effect  of  American  life  upon  the  immigrants  is 
injurious,  rather  than  the  reverse.  This  is  in  part  due, 
no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  the  Greek  colonies  are  largely 
composed  of  young  men,  freed  from  the  restraints  of 
family  ties  and  the  surroundings  of  home,  where  the  close 
watch  kept  upon  the  women  prevents  active  immorality 
to  a large  extent.  Through  the  scarcity  of  women  of 
their  own  race  these  young  men  in  America  are  prevented 
from  contracting  marriages  in  a normal  way.  Further- 
more, the  liberty  of  American  life  in  regard  to  the  rela- 
tions of  young  people  is  construed  by  the  Greeks  as 
license.  The  innocent,  friendly  comradeship  of  young 
people  of  opposite  sexes  is  something  so  foreign  to  their 
experience  that  they  do  not  understand  it.  The  keeper 
of  a hotel  in  Tripolis,  commenting  on  the  undesirable 
conditions  in  America,  included  among  them  the  freedom 
with  which  young  boys  and  girls  were  allowed  by  their 
parents  to  go  out  together.  Unfortunately,  the  women 
with  whom  the  average  Greek  in  this  country  has  the 
opportunity  to  become  familiarly  acquainted,  are  not 
usually  such  as  to  raise  his  standard  of  morality  or  his 
opinion  of  womankind.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
those  Greeks  whose  circumstances  throw  them  into  contact 
with  the  better  classes  of  American  society  are  profited 
thereby. 

As  was  remarked  in  the  discussion  of  the  aspect  of  this 
matter  in  Greece,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  data  which 


206 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


will  furnish  absolute  proof  of  the  state  of  affairs.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  that  indications  point  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  sex  morality  of  the  Greeks  in  this  country 
stands  in  need  of  much  improvement.  Among  these  indi- 
cations the  two  following  may  be  cited.  In  many  of  the 
coffee-houses  of  the  Madison  Street  settlement  in  New 
York  there  are  openly  displayed  advertisements  of  a 
Greek  clinic,  claiming  explicitly  to  cure  the  most  virulent 
of  venereal  diseases.  Out  of  1,337  square  inches  of  adver- 
tising space  in  two  ordinary  issues  of  the  Atlantis  (see 
Table  16),  ninety-three  square  inches,  or  about  one 
fourteenth,  were  devoted  wholly  or  in  part  to  the  cure  of 
private  diseases.  The  physical  condition  of  a large 
number  of  the  young  men  returning  from  this  country 
to  Athens  and  Patras  is  said  to  be  deplorable  in  the 
extreme. 

As  we  have  already  seen  in  so  many  instances,  the  old 
factiousness  still  asserts  itself  in  this  country  in  affairs 
between  Greeks,  and  sadly  interferes  with  the  harmony 
which  the  wide  interests  of  the  race  in  this  country 
demand.  There  must,  however,  be  a marked  improve- 
ment in  the  matter  of  commercial  honesty,  for  no  people 
could  continue  doing  business  in  America  so  successfully 
as  do  the  Greeks,  and  keep  up  the  underhanded  practices 
which  characterize  commercial  operations  in  their  native 
land.  On  the  whole,  the  Greeks  are  more  industrious  and 
painstaking  in  this  country  than  at  home. 

Aside  from  their  commercial  enterprises  the  Greeks  as 
yet  have  not  entered  largely  into  the  social  organization 
of  this  country.  As  already  remarked  the  number  of 
Greek  men  who  have  married  American  women  is  insignifi- 
cant. Greeks  do  not  enter  to  any  extent  into  the  activi- 


207 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


ties  of  the  social  settlements  in  our  cities,  and  only 
slightly  into  the  work  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. In  religion,  they  keep  themselves  almost  wholly 
separate.  As  soon  as  a Greek  colony  reaches  400  or  500 
in  number  it  sets  about  making  arrangements  for  an 
Orthodox  church.  A building  is  rented  or  built  and  a 
priest  secured  from  the  home  land.  There  are  at  present 
about  thirty-six  of  these  churches  in  the  United  States, 
located  as  follows : Atlanta,  Ga. ; Baltimore,  Md. ; Bir- 
mingham, Ala. ; Boston,  Mass. ; Buffalo,  N.  Y. ; Chicago, 
111. ; Cincinnati,  Ohio ; Detroit,  Mich. ; Galveston,  Texas ; 
Haverhill,  Mass. ; Indianapolis,  Ind. ; Los  Angeles,  Cal. ; 
Lowell,  Mass. ; Lynn,  Mass. ; Manchester,  N.  H. ; Mil- 
waukee, Wis. ; Minneapolis,  Minn. ; Nashua,  N.  H. ; 
Newark,  N.  J. ; New  York,  N.  Y.  (two);  Omaha,  Neb.; 
Philadelphia,  Pa. ; Pittsburg,  Pa. ; Portland,  Ore. ; Provi- 
dence, R.  I. ; Pueblo,  Colo. ; St.  Louis,  Mo. ; Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah ; San  Francisco,  Cal. ; Savannah,  Ga. ; Seattle, 
Wash. ; Sheboygan,  Wis. ; Springfield,  Mass. ; Washing- 
ton, D.  C.*  About  fifteen  of  these  own  their  buildings. 

The  priests  are  supported  by  the  contributions  of  the 
congregations  and  receive  from  $60  to  $100  per  month 
salary,  and  various  perquisites  which  sometimes  amount 
to  more  than  the  salary.  The  decorations  and  fittings  of 
these  churches  are  made  to  resemble  as  closely  as  possible 
those  of  the  churches  at  home,  and  as  a rule  the  priests 
keep  up  the  old  habit  of  wearing  the  hair  and  beard  long, 
and  dress  in  the  orthodox  style.  Occasionally  a priest, 
or  a part  of  a congregation,  becomes  progressive  and 
liberal,  and  then  there  is  trouble.  Many  of  the  bitterest 
dissensions  which  mar  the  life  of  the  Greeks  in  this  country 

* Greek-American  Guide,  1909. 


208 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


arise  over  religious  matters.*  Protestant  Greeks  in  the 
United  States  are  a negligible  quantity. 

Along  with  his  church  the  Greek  demands  his  news- 
paper. It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  another  foreign  nation- 
ality in  the  United  States  that  publishes  so  many  news- 
papers in  its  own  language,  in  proportion  to  its  total  pop- 
ulation, as  the  Greeks.  There  are  at  present  about  six- 
teen of  these  newspapers,  two  daily  and  the  rest  for  the 
most  part  weekly,  published  as  follows:  New  York,  four, 
Boston,  two,  Lowell,  one,  Pittsburg,  one,  Chicago,  four, 
San  Francisco,  two.  Salt  Lake  City,  one,  Lynn,  one. 
There  is  also  a commercial  review  and  a monthly  magazine 
published  in  New  York.f 

Outside  of  the  coffee-house  the  Greek  has  few  amuse- 
ments. The  customary  recreation  centers  are  little  pat- 
ronized by  him,  and  athletics  receive  sKght  attention. 

No  large  proportion  of  the  Greeks  have  as  yet  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  One  prominent  Greek  said 
that  possibly  one  fourth  of  the  total  number  were  natural- 
ized citizens,  but  this  is  probably  an  over-estimate.  There 
are  said  to  be  about  2,000  naturahzed  citizens  in  New 
York  City,  284  in  Lowell,  and  from  100  to  200  in  Boston. 
Almost  all  of  them  adhere  to  the  Republican  party, 
believing  that  its  policies  are  most  favorable  to  the  com- 
mercial advancement  of  the  nation.  Socialism  finds  no 
followers  among  the  people  of  this  race  in  the  United 
States,  though  it  is  beginning  to  get  a slight  foothold  in 
Greece.  Greeks  are  apparently  not  inclined  to  join  trade 
unions,  partly  because  there  are  comparatively  few  of 
them  who  are  laborers  in  unionized  trades,  partly  because 

*See  the  Weekly  News  and  Courier,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  July  11,  1908. 

f Greek- American  Guide,  1909. 


209 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


they  prefer  their  own  organizations,  and  partly  because 
they  are  not  wanted  by  the  unions. 

The  slight  interest  of  the  Greeks  in  political  affairs  in 
this  country  is  rather  surprising  when  it  is  compared  with 
the  keen  interest  taken  in  such  matters  in  Greece.  It  was 
explained  by  a well-informed  Greek  in  this  country,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Greek  came  to  this  country  imbued  with 
the  idea  that  too  much  politics  was  one  of  the  causes  of 
the  difficulties  of  his  own  land.  More  than  this,  the 
Greek  has  a profound  respect  for  the  ability  of  the  Ameri- 
can citizen,  and  regards  him  as  much  more  capable  of 
running  the  country  wisely  than  he  himself  is.  Aside 
from  the  inclinations  of  the  Greeks,  one  patent  reason 
why  there  are  so  few  naturalized  citizens  among  them,  is 
that  the  majority  of  them  have  not  been  in  the  country 
long  enough  to  become  citizens.  The  very  general  inten- 
tion to  return  eventually  to  their  native  land  probably 
has  much  to  do  with  it  also.  (See  page  211.)  The 
Greek  is  very  proud  of  his  native  citizenship  and  is  not 
anxious  to  give  it  up. 

For  many  years  it  has  been  the  practice  of  Greeks 
living  in  Turkey  to  come  to  the  United  States  with  the 
express  purpose  of  taking  out  citizenship  papers  and 
returning  to  their  old  home,  there  to  carry  on  business 
under  the  greater  protection  which  their  American  citizen- 
ship gave  them.  I knew  personally  of  one  young  man  of 
a wealthy  family  who  came  to  this  country  and  entered 
one  of  our  leading  scientific  schools.  He  frankly  admitted 
that  his  main  object  was  to  secure  American  citizenship, 
and  the  advantages  which  it  would  bring  him  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  estate.  Another  instance  which  was 
brought  to  my  notice  was  that  of  a young  man  from  one 


210 


IMMIGRANTS  E’lBARKING  FOR  THE  UNITED  SIAIES  Ai  PATRAS 


4: 


m 


v 

■> 


• - I 


/ 


*7 


f 


I ' 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


of  the  islands,  to  whom  a business  opportunity  presented 
itself  in  Turkey.  He  came  to  this  country  and  worked 
as  a servant  in  a private  family  and  in  a club,  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  securing  citizenship,  so  that  he  could 
take  up  this  opportunity  under  better  conditions.  An 
eflPective  check  to  this  practice  was  put  by  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1907,  which  stipulate  that  any 
naturalized  citizen  who  resides  in  the  country  from  which 
he  came  for  two  years,  or  in  any  other  foreign  country 
for  five  years,  thereby  forfeits  his  citizenship. 

A few  years  ago  it  could  be  said  with  truth  that  prac- 
tically every  Greek  who  came  to  the  United  States  had  the 
intention  of  returning  after  five  or  ten  years  to  his  native 
land.  They  came  in  order  to  earn  and  save  enough 
money  so  that  they  could  go  back  home,  and  either  estab- 
lish themselves  in  some  easy  business,  or  else,  if  they  were 
especially  fortunate,  settle  down  to  a life  of  indolence  and 
ease.  But  this  is  changed  now.  The  Greeks  who  went 
home  after  a few  years’  residence  in  the  United  States 
were  not  content.  Having  tasted  the  keen  life  of  this 
country,  they  could  not  be  satisfied  elsewhere.  So  the 
majority  returned  to  America  again,  this  time  with  the 
intention  of  settling  down  permanently.  Their  example, 
along  with  the  increased  knowledge  of  American  conditions 
in  Greece,  inspired  many  of  their  fellow  countrymen  to 
look  to  America  as  the  place  where  they  wished  to  cast 
their  lot  permanently.  Today,  a very  large  proportion 
of  the  Greek  immigrants  to  America,  those  who  cross  the 
ocean  for  the  first  time  as  well  as  those  who  have  been 
here  before,  come  with  the  idea  of  making  this  their  home 
as  long  as  life  shall  last.  Instead  of  speaking  of  their 
native  land  with  proud  patriotism,  they  all  too  often  char- 


211 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


acterize  it  as  a poor  and  miserable  place,  and  many  a 
profane  Americanism  is  ostentatiously  displayed  to  show 
the  scorn  they  feel  for  it. 

As  we  have  seen,  a small  number  of  Greeks  have  attained 
a position  of  eminence  in  the  financial  life  of  this  country. 
Very  few,  however,  have  achieved  any  wide  influence  in 
the  realm  of  literature,  the  arts,  or  the  learned  professions. 
Probably  the  most  illustrious  Greek  citizen  this  country 
has  ever  known  was  Mr.  Michael  Anagnostopoulos,  or 
Anagnos  as  he  was  commonly  known.  He  was  for  many 
years  director  of  the  Perkins  Institution  for  the  Blind  in 
Boston,  and  it  was  under  his  supervision  that  Helen  Keller 
was  educated.  He  died  about  three  years  ago  in  Europe. 


212 


PART  III 


EFFECTS  OF  IMMIGRATION 


CHAPTER  X 


Effects  on  the  Immigrants 

The  discussion  of  the  effects  of  Greek  immigration 
falls  of  its  own  accord  into  three  parts — the  effect 
on  the  immigrants,  the  effect  on  the  land  from  which  they 
come,  and  the  effect  on  the  land  to  which  they  go.  The 
consideration  of  the  first  of  these  can  be  little  more  than 
a summary  of  much  that  has  gone  before.  We  have 
already  followed  the  immigrant  into  his  business,  into  his 
home,  into  his  social  and  religious  life,  and  have  seen  how 
he  fared  in  all  these  departments  of  his  life.  All  that  we 
can  do  now  is  to  gather  together  our  conclusions  in  a few 
words. 

Financially,  practically  every  Greek  finds  his  life  in 
America  an  improvement  over  the  one  he  left.  He  earns 
more  money  and  is  able  to  save  more.  He  has  much 
greater  opportunities  of  establishing  himself  in  a perma- 
nent and  lucrative  business.  Many  Greeks  who  would 
never  have  escaped  from  the  hoe  or  the  shepherd’s  crook 
in  Greece,  become  prosperous  business  men  in  America. 
A few  save  enough  in  a few  years  to  assure  them  a com- 
fortable living  and  a position  of  influence  and  respect  if 
they  return  to  their  native  land,  as  a small  number  do. 
The  number  who  fail  to  make  a living  in  the  new  country 
is  exceedingly  small. 

As  far  as  the  actual  comforts  of  life  are  concerned,  how- 
ever, the  situation  of  a large  body  of  the  Greeks  in  this 
country  is  decidedly  inferior  to  that  from  which  they  come. 
Instead  of  the  clear,  pure,  invigorating  atmosphere  of 
their  native  hills,  they  breathe  the  vitiated  air  of  a store. 


215 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


shop  or  factory.  Instead  of  a day  of  leisurely  and  inter- 
mittent toil,  with  an  hour  or  two  of  siesta  after  the  noon 
lunch,  there  is  a long  stretch  of  eight,  ten,  or,  in  the  case 
of  the  bootblacks,  fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  of  steady  labor. 
The  food  in  the  new  home  is  perhaps  more  varied,  but  in 
many  cases  it  is  not  so  fresh  nor  so  well  suited  to  the  Greek 
palate,  as  that  to  which  the  immigrant  was  accustomed  at 
home.  The  hving  and  sleeping  rooms  in  the  old  home 
were  bare  and  perhaps  dirt-floored,  but  they  were  at  least 
clean  and  well  cared  for,  whereas  the  new  quarters  are 
unkempt  and  filthy.  The  social  relaxation  of  the  coffee- 
house is  still  available,  but  it  lacks  the  picturesque  out- 
door features  that  add  so  much  of  charm  in  the  old  coun- 
try. Very  many  Greeks  have  separated  themselves  from 
wives  and  children.  Either  they  lack  the  means  to  bring 
them  over,  or  they  are  unwilling  to  call  them  to  this  coun- 
try until  they  can  assure  them  a well-appointed  and  com- 
fortable home.  In  any  case  they  do  not  even  see  them 
for  five  or  ten  years,  and  are  deprived  of  all  the  comforts 
and  pleasures  of  family  life.  The  unmarried  young  men 
do  not  have  the  opportunity  to  meet  girls  of  their  own 
race,  or  in  most  cases,  worthy  women  of  other  races,  and 
so  are  denied  the  opportunity  of  securing  wives. 

As  a result  of  these  conditions  the  health  of  the  Greeks 
in  many  cases  suffers  a decline.  This  may  be  due  either 
to  undesirable  food  and  living  conditions,  to  the  un- 
hygienic conditions  of  their  daily  toil,  to  change  of 
climate,  or  to  vicious  practices.  In  many  cases  the  morals 
also  suffer,  on  account  of  the  unwonted  freedom  of  Ameri- 
can life,  and  the  customary  use  in  this  country  of  strong 
intoxicants  in  the  place  of  light  wines.  Religious  observ- 
ances are  as  a rule  well  kept  up,  and  any  relaxation  in  the 


216 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  IMMIGRANTS 


direction  of  greater  freedom  is  just  as  likely  to  be  for  the 
better  as  for  the  worse. 

To  the  question  that  naturally  arises,  If  all  this  be  so, 
why  do  the  Greeks  continue  to  come  and  stay  in  such  great 
numbers.?  the  one  great  answer  is.  Money.  Money  making 
is  a ruling  passion  among  the  Greeks,  and  the  opportu- 
nities of  gratifying  it  are  much  greater  in  the  United 
States  than  in  Greece.  There  is  scarcely  a Greek  in  the 
United  States  who  does  not  earn  more  money  than  he  did, 
or  could  reasonably  hope  to,  in  Greece.  The  unfortunate 
conditions  which  we  have  been  discussing  are  not  due  to 
lack  of  money,  so  much  as  to  the  extreme  privations  which 
a Greek  is  willing  to  undergo  in  order  to  send  money  home 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  land,  building  a house  for  his 
parents,  providing  dowries  for  his  daughters  or  sisters, 
putting  up  a bell  tower  on  the  village  church,  or  paying 
off  the  debts  of  himself  or  his  family.  The  gratification 
that  comes  from  so  doing  outweighs  a multitude  of  hard- 
ships. A minor  reason  for  the  willingness  of  Greeks  to 
enjoy  fewer  comforts  in  this  country  than  in  the  home 
land  is  that  the  rushing,  varied,  active  life  of  the  United 
States  is  peculiarly  attractive  to  the  Greek  spirit.  As 
some  one  said,  “As  soon  as  they  hear  that  there  are  trolley 
cars  over  here,  they  all  come.”  In  the  districts  in  Greece 
from  which  emigration  has  taken  place  for  a number  of 
years,  the  evil  conditions  of  the  Greeks  in  the  United 
States  are  very  well  understood,  and  undoubtedly  deter 
many  from  coming.  But  in  the  mind  of  the  average 
peasant  the  stream  of  gold,  which  he  can  see  so  plainly, 
outweighs  the  disadvantages  which  he  has  only  heard  of, 
and  each  one  hopes  that  he  will  be  one  of  the  ones  who  win 
success  in  the  new  home. 


217 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


It  hardly  need  be  said  that  these  unfortunate  conditions 
are  by  no  means  universal  among  the  Greeks  in  this  coun- 
try. They  exist  most  fully  in  the  consolidated  Greek 
colonies,  where  the  dwellers  have  little  opportunity  of 
coming  into  any  social  relations,  or  even  business  rela- 
tions, with  American  people.  How  complete  is  this  isola- 
tion may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  though  the 
Greeks  are  supposed  to  be  quick  at  languages,  it  is  the 
exception  to  find  a Greek  who  has  been  in  the  United 
States  five  or  even  ten  years  who  can  speak  English  even 
tolerably  well.  The  Greeks  who  prosper  most,  financially, 
socially,  morally,  and  intellectually — those  to  whom  the 
change  of  residence  is  a real  advantage- — are  those  whose 
circumstances  lead  them  away  from  the  settlement,  and 
throw  them  into  contact  with  the  better  classes  of  Ameri- 
can citizens.  And  there  is  a goodly  number  of  these. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  as  Greeks  more  and  more  come 
here  with  the  intention  of  remaining  permanently,  and 
those  that  are  here  give  up  their  idea  of  returning,  there 
will  be  an  increase  of  family  immigration,  which  will  alle- 
viate many  of  the  evils  that  now  exist. 

In  regard  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  Greeks  in 
this  country  the  Greek- American  Guide  for  1909  contains 
the  following  pessimistic  and  somewhat  exaggerated 
paragraph : * 

“What  Do  the  Emigrants  Gain.?  Do  the  Greek  emi- 
grants in  America  gain  anything.?  How  much  do  they 
gain,  and  how.?  We  think  that  in  regard  to  both  of  these 
questions  their  compatriots  in  Greece  and  elsewhere  have 

* Page  38.  The  word  “gain”  as  used  in  this  paragraph  should  be 
taken  in  the  sense  of  earning  or  getting,  rather  than  that  of  securing 
an  advantage. 


218 


WOMEN  WASHING  AT  THE  FOUNTAIN,  TSIPIANA 


■ ■ - 

, V V -4 


effects  on  the  immigrants 


a decidedly  mistaken  idea.  Of  course  there  are,  as  we 
have  said  above,  a number  of  the  older  emigrants,  who 
after  many  years  of  toil  and  labor  have  estabUshed  and 
maintained  certain  profitable  businesses  or  enterprises  and 
now  make  a comfortable  bving,  although  not  as  much  as 
they  seem  to  in  Greece.  But  these  are  few,  and  the  whole 
must  not  be  judged  by  a small  part.  The  newer  emi- 
grants, with  a few  exceptions,  gain  nothing  at  all,  or  at 
least  gain  very  little,  and  that  by  the  strictest  economy 
and  excessive  labor.”  (Translated.) 


t 


219 


CHAPTER  XI 


Effects  on  Greece 

ARLY  in  the  twentieth  century  when  emigration  from 
Greece  to  America  began  to  assume  considerable 
proportions  it  aroused  universal  consternation  in  the 
minds  of  the  Greek  authorities.  The  country  was 
alarmed  as  it  saw  its  working  force  drawn  off  to  serve 
the  needs  of  a foreign  land,  and  the  government  began  to 
consider  measures  to  check  the  movement.  As  the  years 
went  by,  however,  and  the  stream  of  remittances  began  to 
flow  in,  opinion  gradually  changed,  and  people  began  to 
feel  that,  as  long  as  the  money  was  spent  in  Greece,  it  did 
not  much  matter  where  it  was  earned.  This  state  of  mind 
has  generally  continued  down  to  the  present  time,  and 
even  the  intelligent  members  of  the  Greek  populace  regard 
the  depopulation  of  their  country  with  an  amazing  degree 
of  complacency.  Within  the  last  two  or  three  years, 
however,  especially  since  the  crisis  in  America  cut  down 
the  remittances,  there  has  grown  up  a party  of  opposition 
which  controls  a large  part  of  the  Greek  press.  Even  so 
late  as  the  winter  of  1908-09  the  newspapers  of  Athens 
contained  frequent  paragraphs  such  as  the  following : * 

“THE  CRISIS  IN  CHICAGO 
120,000  Unemployed 

“ According  to  recent  statistics  there  are  in  Chicago  about 

120.000  laborers  unemployed.  Of  these  6,000  are  drivers, 

8.000  carpenters,  25,000  bricklayers,  7,000  iron  workers, 

12.000  waiters  in  restaurants  and  hotels,  3,000  mechanics  and 

* Translated  from  the  “Kairoi,”  Athens,  January  8,  1909. 


220 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


firemen,  50,000  to  60,000  unskilled  laborers ; 50,000  of  these  un- 
employed laborers  have  families  and  their  wives  and  children 
suffer  with  them. 

“ The  economic  crisis  of  the  working  classes,  on  account  of 
these  conditions,  has  reached  the  extreme  limit.” 

American  officials  in  Greece  express  the  opinion  that 
there  is  government  influence  back  of  these  utterances. 
In  fact,  late  in  the  fall  of  1907,  the  Ministry  of  Internal 
Affairs  issued  a circular  to  the  provincial  authorities  call- 
ing attention  to  the  depressed  state  of  affairs  in  America, 
and  ordering  them  to  use  every  means  to  check  the  current 
of  emigration.  The  crisis  was  generally  exaggerated  in 
Greece,  and  it  was  said  that  America  had  “gone  bank- 
rupt.” 

The  effects  of  emigration  upon  Greece  are  in  the  main 
connected  with  two  phenomena — the  influx  of  money  from 
America,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  laboring  force  from 
the  country.  In  regard  to  the  former  of  these,  it  may 
at  first  seem  surprising  to  an  American  that  the  small 
sum  which,  as  we  have  seen,  covers  the  amount  of  the 
annual  remittances  (see  page  191),  should  exercise  such 
a profound  influence  on  the  economic  situation  in  Greece. 
But  a moment’s  consideration  will  make  this  plain. 
Suppose  we  set  the  figure  for  the  average  annual  amount 
of  money  sent  from  the  United  States  to  Greece  at 
$5,000,000.  The  general  imports  into  Greece  in  1905 
amounted  to  $27,170,533,  and  the  exports  to  $16,095,184. 
In  1906  the  imports  were  $27,800,868  and  the  exports 
$22,783,161.  It  thus  appears  that  the  amount  of  money 
flowing  into  Greece  each  year,  without  any  corresponding 
outgo,  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  quarter  of  the  total 
amount  which  the  country  receives  for  its  exports,  and  is 

221 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


enough  to  pay  for  nearly  one  fifth  of  its  imports.  This 
makes  it  plain  why  the  money  from  America  exercises  so 
great  an  influence  on  the  progress  of  affairs  in  Greece. 

The  effects  of  this  inflow  of  money  have  been  already 
touched  upon  in  our  preliminary  survey  of  the  economic 
conditions  in  Greece.  (See  Chapter  IV.)  Perhaps  the 
foremost  among  them  is  the  remarkable  fall  in  exchange. 
This  has  had  the  undesirable  effect  of  temporarily  increas- 
ing to  a large  extent  the  cost  of  living  for  the  average 
citizen  of  Greece,  but  if  it  ultimately  results  in  putting 
the  currency  of  the  country  on  a sound  basis,  it  will  serve 
a very  useful  purpose.  Another  beneficial  result  which 
has  followed  this  inflow  of  money  has  been  the  paying  off 
of  a large  number  of  real  estate  mortgages.  The  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  told  me  that  large  sections  of  Greece 
had  been  wholly  freed  from  incumbrances  through  this 
agency.  The  rate  of  interest  has  also  fallen  decidedly, 
until  now,  in  some  sections,  private  individuals  lend  money 
at  lower  rates  than  the  banks. 

Turning  now  to  the  injurious  results  of  American 
money  in  Greece,  we  note  first  of  all  that  it  has  had,  and 
has,  a very  demoralizing  effect  upon  the  industry  of  the 
country.  The  Greek  loves  both  the  appearance  and  the 
fact  of  leisure,  and  is  all  too  ready  at  best  to  give  up 
labor  and  spend  his  days  in  the  coffee-houses  and  on  the 
promenades,  smoking  and  talking  politics,  as  soon  as  the 
opportunity  to  do  so  presents  itself.  The  abundant  sup- 
plies of  money  which  are  coming  into  the  country  without 
labor,  encourage  this  tendency  and  help  to  make  possible 
its  fulfillment.  The  Greeks  who  come  back  from  America 
with  their  fortunes  made  increase  this  idle  class  and  help 
to  inculcate  the  love  of  indolence  in  the  youth  of  the  land. 


222 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


These  factors  have  contributed  to  that  peculiar  stagna- 
tion, mentioned  in  the  quotation  on  page  70.  As  a result, 
Athens  and  the  Piraeus  are  the  only  cities  in  the  kingdom, 
with  the  exception  of  Volo,  which  have  grown  appreciably 
in  recent  years.  The  others  have  remained  nearly  sta- 
tionary, and  Syra  is  said  to  have  gone  down  sadly.  If 
this  money  were  applied  to  the  development  of  productive 
industry,  the  results  would  be  more  favorable.  But  unfor- 
tunately it  is  not.  Aside  from  what  is  spent  in  freeing 
the  land,  and  paying  debts,  the  majority  of  it  is  used  in 
furnishing  dowries  for  the  girls,  in  building  fine  houses, 
in  erecting  bell  towers  and  clocks  on  the  churches  and 
monasteries  or  putting  up  new  church  buildings,  occa- 
sionally in  some  public  project  like  building  a road,  and 
often  in  making  possible  a life  of  luxury  as  mentioned 
above.  The  Greek  newspapers  in  America  like  to  under- 
take a subscription  for  some  public  purpose.  For  in- 
stance, the  Atlantis  is  conducting  a campaign  among  the 
Greeks  in  America  to  raise  money  for  the  purchase  of  a 
man-of-war  for  the  Greek  navy.  The  amount  contributed 
for  this  purpose  up  to  April  20,  1909,  was  $30,500.44. 

Probably  the  greatest  injury  wrought  by  American 
money  in  Greece  is  in  augmenting  the  fever  for  emigration. 
In  1906  Mr.  Horton  wrote  in  his  annual  report,  “It  is 
almost  impossible  to  find  a young  man  or  boy  in  the  vil- 
lages or  on  the  farms  who  does  not  live  in  hopes  of  getting 
away  to  America  as  soon  as  possible.”  There  is  no  factor 
which  contributes  more  powerfully  to  this  result  than  the 
constant  stream  of  gold  from  America.  The  following 
sentence,  translated  from  the  Greek-American  Guide  for 
1909  (page  39),  is  taken  from  the  paragraph  on  “The 
Causes  of  Emigration,”  and  expresses  the  idea  forcibly ; 

223 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


“ ‘Such  a one  from  such  and  such  a village  sent  home  so 
many  dollars  within  a year,’  is  heard  in  a certain  village 
or  city,  and  the  report,  flashed  from  village  to  village  and 
from  city  to  city  and  growing  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
causes  the  farmer  to  desert  his  plow,  the  shepherd  to  sell 
his  sheep,  the  artisan  to  throw  away  his  tools,  the  small 
grocer  to  break  up  his  store,  the  teacher  to  forsake  his 
rostrum,  and  all  to  set  aside  the  passage  money  so  that 
they  can  take  the  flrst  possible  ship  for  America  and 
gather  up  the  dollars  in  the  streets  before  they  are  all 
gone.” 

An  examination  of  the  statistics  of  population  of 
Greece  reveals  the  extent  to  which  the  withdrawal  of  young 
men  has  gone.  Greece  is  one  of  the  few  countries  of 
Europe  where  the  male  population  is  considerably  in  excess 
of  the  female.  The  following  table  shows  the  relation  of 
these  two  groups  at  the  time  of  the  last  two  censuses : 


Excess 


Census 

Total  Population 

Males 

Females 

of  Males 

1896 

2,443,506* 

1,266,000 

1,166,990 

99,010 

1907 

2,631,952 

1,324,942 

1,307,010 

17,932 

The  first  thing  that  attracts  the  attention  on  looking 
at  these  figures  is  the  small  increase  in  the  total  popula- 
tion, only  188,4<46  in  eleven  years  as  compared  with  an 
increase  of  256,298  in  the  seven-year  period  from  1889 
(when  the  total  population  was  2,187,208)  to  1896.  The 
next  important  fact  is  the  decided  decrease  in  the  excess 
of  males,  showing  the  sex  from  which  the  bulk  of  the  emi- 
grants have  been  recruited.  We  have  already  seen  that 
about  85  per  cent  of  the  Greeks  in  America  are  males 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  forty-five.  This  would 

* The  slight  discrepancy  between  the  total  and  the  sum  of  the  two 
items  is  characteristic  of  Greek  statistics. 


224 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


be  about  127,500  individuals.  Now  in  a normal  popu- 
lation in  such  a country  as  Greece  about  400  out  of  1,000 
of  the  total  population  are  in  this  age  group.*  That  is 
to  say,  that  out  of  the  1,324,942  males  in  Greece  in  1907, 
about  529,776  should  be  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
forty-five.  Comparing  this  with  the  number  in  America, 
and  allowing  for  a slight  increase  in  the  population  of 
Greece  between  1907  and  1909,  we  see  that  between  one 
fourth  and  one  fifth  of  the  working  force  of  Greece  are  in 
America.  This  is  merely  the  roughest  kind  of  an  esti- 
mate, but  it  will  serve  to  show  how  deeply  the  population 
of  Greece  has  been  affected  by  emigration.  The  surprising 
thing  is,  that  the  results  on  the  agriculture  and  industry 
of  Greece  have  not  been  more  disastrous  than  they  have. 
As  yet,  the  withdrawal  of  so  large  a body  of  the  young 
men  has  not  caused  any  appreciable  decline  in  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil.  It  is  true  that  the  currant  industry  is 
in  a depressed  condition,  but  there  are  other  causes  for 
this  (see  page  76),  and  while  at  present  the  removal  of 
the  working  class  undoubtedly  contributes  to  this  re- 
sult, it  was  originally  a cause  and  not  a result  of 
emigration.  The  explanation  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
women  have  taken  hold  of  the  work.  The  peasant  women 
of  Greece  are  strong,  sturdy,  healthy  and  accustomed  to 
hard  work,  and  they  have  gone  into  the  fields  and  taken 
up  the  hoe  and  the  plow,  and  are  carrying  on  the  agricul- 
ture of  the  country,  perhaps  not  quite  so  well  as  the  men, 
but  well  enough  to  save  the  crops  from  ruin.  They  have 
also  entered  many  other  departments  of  manual  labor. 
Mr.  Nathan  saw  girls  of  fourteen  and  fifteen  breaking 
stone  by  the  roadside  near  Sparta,  and  I saw  some  not 
* See  Bailey,  Modern  Social  Conditions,  page  76. 


225 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


much  older  carrying  mortar  and  stones  for  a new  build- 
ing in  Megalopolis.  In  a large  limestone  quarry  in  the 
environs  of  Athens,  I saw  a number  of  women  engaged  in 
filling  baskets  with  the  broken  rock  and  emptying  the 
heavy  loads  into  carts.  I asked  one  of  them  how  much 
she  earned  a day  and  she  replied,  “One  drachma.”  To 
my  next  query  as  to  the  number  of  hours  she  worked  per 
day,  her  reply  was,  “From  sunrise  to  sundown.” 

Recently,  also,  large  numbers  of  Albanians  and  others 
from  the  countries  to  the  north  have  been  brought  in  to 
do  the  field  labor,  and  in  the  vineyards  around  Patras  one 
frequently  sees  large  gangs  of  these  motley  nationahties 
working  under  the  direction  of  a Greek  boss.  The 
scarcity  of  laborers  has  produced  a slight  rise  in  wages 
which,  of  course,  benefits  a small  number  of  those  who 
remain. 

Within  a year  or  two  there  has  appeared  to  be  a spread 
of  the  white  slave  traffic  in  Greece,  and  the  large  number 
of  girls  who  are  left  unmarried  by  the  exodus  of  the  young 
men  is  held  partly  accountable  for  this  unfortunate  con- 
dition. One  rather  amusing  effect  of  emigration,  bene- 
ficial at  least  from  the  point  of  view  of  Greece,  was  men- 
tioned to  me  by  Mr.  Nathan.  On  a recent  trip  to  Sparta 
he  entered  into  conversation  with  the  chief  of  police  of 
the  district,  and  the  officer  remarked  that  since  emigration 
had  been  so  large  Sparta  had  changed  from  a very  turbu- 
lent locality  to  one  of  the  quietest  places  imaginable.  In 
fact,  he  said  that  not  only  his  own  district,  but  Greece 
in  general,  seemed  to  be  pretty  well  rid  of  her  more  vicious 
criminals. 

One  other  effect  which  has  alarmed  the  authorities  to 
a considerable  extent  is  the  marked  decrease  in  the  number 

226 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


of  recruits  for  the  army.  This  is  something  which  comes 
close  to  the  heart  of  the  nation,  and  it,  probably  more 
than  any  other  one  factor,  contributed  to  the  appointment 
by  the  legislative  chamber  of  a committee  to  investigate 
the  whole  matter  of  emigration,  and  recommend  any 
changes  in  the  laws  which  seemed  desirable.  This  com- 
mittee reported  on  July  12,  1906.  The  report  begins 
with  a statement  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  data  on 
which  to  base  conclusions,  owing  to  the  inadequate  manner 
in  which  statistics  of  this  kind  are  kept  in  Greece.  Then 
follows  a review  of  emigration  in  general.  The  statistics 
contain  so  many  manifest  inaccuracies  as  to  be  wholly  un- 
trustworthy, and  the  discussion  is  on  the  whole  rather 
puerile.  An  idea  of  its  nature  may  be  gained  from  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  principal  grounds,  on  which  is  based 
the  estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  sent  home  from 
America,  is  the  lamentable  fact  that  in  1905  in  the  space 
of  three  months  120,000  francs  in  checks  were  stolen  from 
the  mail  in  the  district  of  Lacedemonia ! Little  is  to  be 
gained  for  our  purposes  from  the  study  of  this  part  of 
the  report. 

Twenty  pages  of  the  report  are  devoted  to  the  text  of 
an  emigration  law  proposed  and  recommended  by  the  com- 
mittee. Only  a few  sections  of  it  are  of  especial  interest 
to  us.  Emigration  is  proclaimed  to  be  free  under  the 
prescribed  limitations.  The  principal  ones  of  these  are 
as  follows : Males  from  the  age  of  nineteen  years  to  the 
completion  of  the  age  of  active  military  service  are 
required  to  secure  permission  from  their  nomarch  before 
leaving.  Those  belonging  to  the  reserve  force  are  free 
to  depart  but  must  give  notice  in  writing  to  the  authori- 
ties. Children  under  the  age  of  sixteen,  of  both  sexes,  ai'e 


227 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


forbidden  to  emigrate  unless  accompanied  by  their  father, 
or  having  permission  from  their  father  or  guardian. 
Provisions  are  made  to  prevent  the  enslavement  of  boys, 
or  the  deportation  of  girls  for  immoral  purposes.  Pro- 
vision is  also  made  for  the  protection  of  emigrants  from 
the  devices  of  unscrupulous  agents,  and  for  their  safety 
and  comfort  on  the  voyage.  This  law  was  not  passed  and 
since  that  time  little  has  been  done  toward  regulating 
emigration. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  way  to  gain  a concise  idea 
of  the  effects  of  emigration  upon  Greece  than  to  take  a 
brief  trip  to  one  or  two  of  the  districts  from  which  emi- 
gration has  been  the  heaviest  and  of  the  longest  duration. 
Let  us  imagine  that  we  are  just  starting  out  on  such  a 
trip,  and  that  we  have  chosen  as  our  destination  Tripolis 
and  the  region  round  about.  We  leave  Athens  a little 
before  seven  o’clock  in  the  morning,  and  for  the  sake  of 
the  local  color  travel  in  the  third  class.  In  our  com- 
partment are  a couple  of  men  whose  clothes  have  a dis- 
tinctly American  character.  They  recognize  us  at  once 
as  Americans,  and  engage  us  in  conversation  in  broken 
English.  When  they  learn  that  our  destination  is  Trip- 
olis they  at  once  become  interested  and  from  that  time  on 
take  charge  of  us,  offering  to  share  their  food  with  us,  and 
giving  us  many  suggestions  as  to  where  to  go  and  what  to 
do.  One  of  them  lives  in  Steno,  a little  village  near  Trip- 
olis. He  has  been  for  nine  years  in  Chicago,  where  he 
had  a fruit  store.  He  has  made  his  small  fortune  and  is 
coming  back  to  Greece  to  spend  tbe  rest  of  his  days  with 
his  family,  whom  he  has  not  seen  since  he  left.  The  other 
man  has  spent  fifteen  years  in  Chicago,  where  he  still  owns 
a grocery  store  on  the  corner  of  Polk  Street  and  Blue 


228 


PUBLIC  SQUARE,  TRIPOLIS 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


Island  Avenue.  He  is  now  enjoying  a life  of  repose  and 
ease  in  the  capital.  The  train  jogs  along,  following  the 
coast  line  closely,  over  a well-built  road  bed.  We  pass 
through  Eleusis,  now  a poor  Albanian  village,  from  which 
very  few  have  gone  to  America.  A little  later  we  go 
through  Megara,  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  this  part  of 
Greece,  typically  old-fashioned  in  the  architecture  of  its 
buildings,  and  the  character  of  its  people.  Out  of  a popu- 
lation of  about  7,000  it  is  said  to  have  sent  1,000  to 
America.  On  both  sides  of  the  track  there  is  a succession 
of  olive  orchards,  vineyards  and  rocky  pastures  where 
flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  are  feeding.  Soon  we  come  to 
the  Isthmus  and  cross  the  Corinth  Canal  on  an  elevated 
bridge.  After  a brief  stop  at  Corinth  we  begin  our  incur- 
sion into  the  Peloponnesus.  The  road  climbs  up  through 
wild  but  beautiful  scenery.  We  soon  begin  to  see  signs  of 
emigration  in  the  frequency  with  which  women  appear 
working  in  the  fields.  The  barren  and  precipitous  moun- 
tains aU  around  us,  and  the  immense  windings  which  the 
railroad  makes  in  traversing  them  impress  us  forcibly 
with  the  tremendous  difficulties  of  communication  in  this 
part  of  Greece.  Ere  long  the  road  begins  to  descend  once 
more  and  we  find  ourselves  in  the  fertile  plain  of  Argolis. 
But  our  climbing  is  not  done.  The  rest  of  the  journey  to 
Tripolis,  which  we  reach  about  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon, is  one  long  ascent. 

Tripolis,  lying  at  the  edge  of  a high,  fertile  table-land, 
is  an  attractive,  thriving  city.  The  business  and  social 
life  of  its  people  centers  around  the  public  square,  on  one 
side  of  which  stands  a fine  church,  the  other  sides  being 
enclosed  with  arcades.  In  the  streets  which  run  out  from 
it  the  trades  and  businesses  of  the  citizens  are  more  or 

229 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


less  centralized.  One  street  is  given  up  to  iron-workers’ 
shops,  another  to  dry  goods  stores,  there  is  an  open  fruit 
market,  and  a semi-open  meat  market.  The  streets  are 
for  the  most  part  narrow,  and  the  houses,  though  built 
of  stone,  are  old-fashioned,  but  the  city  is  well  lighted  with 
electricity.  The  population  of  the  city  and  the  sur- 
rounding villages  is  of  a fine  type.  The  men  are  hardy, 
vigorous  and  active,  and  the  women  especially  are  sturdy 
and  well-built,  with  strong,  handsome,  square  faces. 

As  we  talk  with  the  hotel  keepers,  the  business  men,  the 
carriage  drivers,  etc.,  we  find  that  “America”  is  a house- 
hold word,  familiar  to  every  tongue.  On  every  hand  we 
meet  men  who  have  been  in  America.  The  storekeepers 
call  out  to  us,  “Come  on,  boy,”  and  as  we  sit  in  the  hotel 
office  in  the  evening  we  have  numerous  callers.  One  is  a 
baker  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  one  has  several  sons  in  Ogden, 
Utah,  and  one  young  man,  whose  fine  face  and  pleasant 
bearing  testify  to  a beneficial  experience,  says  he  has  left 
a job  in  a mill  in  Pittsburg  to  come  home  and  serve  in  the 
army.  Economic  conditions  in  America,  and  particu- 
larly the  situation  of  the  Greeks,  are  well  understood  by 
these  men.  They  talk  intelligently  of  the  crisis  in  the 
United  States — and  well  they  may,  for  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  city  stand  the  foundations  of  a fine  large  church, 
upon  which  work  has  had  to  be  stopped  until  the  remit- 
tances from  America  begin  to  come  in  again. 

But  to  see  the  effects  of  emigration  at  their  best  we 
must  take  one  or  two  small  trips  out  into  the  neighboring 
villages.  On  one  of  these  excursions  we  stroll  through  the 
villages  of  Tegea,  Achouria  and  Piah.  Everywhere  there 
is  a scarcity  of  men,  especially  young  men.  Occasionally 
a grizzled  old  peasant  will  be  seen  watching  a flock  of 

230 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


sheep,  or  driving  his  donkey  to  mill.  But  the  young  men 
are  not  to  be  seen.  Everywhere  there  is  the  impression 
of  desertion.  The  houses  are  closed  and  the  streets 
vacant.  In  the  fields  women  and  young  children  are  dig- 
ging wild  bulbs  with  heavy  iron  hoes,  perhaps  watching 
some  sheep  or  goats  as  they  dig.  These  bulbs  they  will 
sell  to  the  restaurant  keeper  in  the  city  for  a trifling  sum. 
We  approach  one  or  two  of  these  groups  of  women  to 
speak  with  them,  but  they  flee  from  us  like  wild  things. 
Near  the  village  we  pass  an  unusually  fine-looking  house. 
We  accost  the  woman  seated  at  the  door,  and  she  tells  us 
with  pride  that  the  house  was  built  with  money  which  her 
sons  have  sent  her  from  America. 

From  here  we  go  on  to  Tsipiana,  a compact  little  vil- 
lage nestling  in  a valley  between  two  towering,  rocky 
mountains.  We  enter  the  coffee-house  for  a moment  of 
rest,  and  are  followed  by  a crowd  of  forty  or  fifty  curious 
observers.  As  we  take  in  the  composition  of  the  group, 
we  realize  that  they  are  all  old  men  and  boys,  with  perhaps 
a soldier  and  schoolmaster  of  middle  age.  We  ask  them 
what  is  the  population  of  the  village,  and  one  of  them 
replies,  “Twenty-five  hundred  or  three  thousand,  but  seven 
or  eight  hundred  of  them — all  the  young  men — are  in 
America.”  Every  boy  has  a brother  or  cousin  in  the  far- 
away land,  where  he  himself  intends  and  expects  to  go 
just  as  soon  as  he  gets  old  enough.  They  are  a curious, 
good-natured  crowd,  and  follow  us  in  our  explorations  of 
the  village,  exhibiting  shyly  the  text-books  from  which 
they  are  learning  English,  and  the  watches  and  fountain 
pens — neither  of  them  in  running  order^ — which  they  have 
received  from  America.  They  point  with  pride  to  the 
$2,000  clock  in  the  tower  of  the  monastery  on  the  hill, 


281 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


paid  for  with  American  money.  If  we  get  into  conver- 
sation with  any  of  the  young  women,  which  is  difficult  to 
do,  we  must  avoid  the  mention  of  sweethearts  unless  we 
wish  to  tread  on  tender  ground,  for  it  is  a standing  joke 
with  a rather  bitter  flavor  around  here  that  there  are  no 
men  to  marry  the  girls. 

On  our  way  to  the  coast  we  stop  for  a few  hours  at 
Megalopolis,  the  great  supply  center  for  the  bootblacks 
of  the  Greek  world,  as  well  as  for  America.  It  is  an  un- 
prepossessing little  town,  which  has  the  misfortune  to 
possess  the  ruins  of  an  old  theater.  This  attracts 
numbers  of  tourists,  and  the  people  of  the  town  have  as 
a result  lost  the  frank  and  courteous  curiosity  which  was 
so  pleasing  in  Tsipiana,  and  have  become  covetous,  im- 
portunate, and  impertinent.  We  can  detect  somewhat  of 
a difference  between  the  appearance  of  this  town  and  that 
of  those  we  have  just  left.  Here  the  great  dearth  appears 
to  be  in  boys  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty.  There 
are  plenty  of  small  boys,  many  of  them  with  their  boot- 
black  kits.  There  are  also  men  of  middle  age,  sitting  idly 
in  front  of  the  coffee-houses,  doubtless  supported  by  the 
labors  of  hard-working  little  lads  in  Athens,  Patras  or 
the  United  States.  There  are  evidences  of  considerable 
prosperity  in  the  town,  for  pretentious  new  buildings  are 
going  up  on  every  street  and,  as  we  are  informed,  they 
are  planning  to  put  a marble  curbing  around  the  entire 
square.  Along  the  country  roads  women  and  small  boys 
are  driving  horses  and  donkeys  to  and  from  town,  and 
in  the  fields  tiny  maidens  watch  the  flocks  of  sheep,  or 
carry  bundles  of  brushwood  on  their  backs. 

The  American  traveler  in  Greece  can  hardly  escape  the 
conviction  that  the  enormous  emigration  movement  is 


232 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


threatening  the  very  life  of  the  nation.  That  there  are 
no  more  pronounced  effects  observable  as  yet,  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  movement  is  still  not  half  a generation  old. 
There  are  still  women  left  to  till  the  fields,  and  old  men 
and  infants  to  tend  the  flocks.  But  with  the  girls  remain- 
ing unmarried,  the  old  men  dying  off,  and  the  boys  all 
leaving  for  America,  the  future  looks  very  dark.  The 
unborn  generation  seems  already  doomed.  At  present 
there  are  no  signs  of  an  amelioration  of  circumstances. 
It  is  true  that  the  crisis  in  the  United  States  checked  the 
movement  for  a time,  but  with  the  resumption  of  business 
in  America,  the  spring  of  1909  has  witnessed  a greater 
madness  for  emigration  in  Greece  than  ever  before.  The 
extreme  conditions  which  we  have  observed  in  the  villages 
around  Tripolis,  and  which  exist  in  much  the  same  degree 
around  Sparta,  are  becoming  more  and  more  common  and 
widespread  in  every  part  of  the  Greek  world.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  if  emigration  keeps  on  at  its 
present  rate  of  increase,  as  it  promises  to  do,  within 
twenty  years  Greece  will  be  completely  drained  of  its 
natural  working  force,  and  the  population  will  consist  of 
a few  old  men  and  a host  of  old  women  and  middle-aged 
spinsters.  It  is  possible — and  from  the  point  of  view  of 
America  desirable — that  as  the  years  go  by,  the  immi- 
grants will  begin  to  bring  their  women  with  them,  or  send 
for  them  a few  years  after  arrival.  But  this  promises  no 
relief  for  Greece. 

The  shocking  indifference  to  the  whole  matter  which  is 
displayed  by  the  average  Greek  is  based  mainly  on  one 
fact  and  two  theories.  The  fact  is  the  narcotic  influence 
of  the  stream  of  American  gold.  The  theories,  in  the 
truth  of  which  the  Greek  firmly  believes,  are,  first,  that 


233 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


the  great  body  of  emigrant  Greeks  will  sooner  or  later 
return  to  their  native  home,  and  second  that  when  they 
do  come  they  will  be  “educated,”  and  will  become  centers 
of  enlightenment,  uplifting  influences,  teaching  their 
countrymen  progressive  methods  of  business  and  agricul- 
ture, and  putting  the  industry  of  the  country  on  its  feet. 
The  falsity  of  the  former  of  these  assumptions  we  have 
already  seen.  The  second  is  perhaps  even  more  mis- 
taken. Ear  from  settling  down  to  lift  up  their  fellow 
citizens,  the  few  Greeks  who  do  return  are  on  the  whole 
a restless  and  discontented  lot,  and  before  long  the  ma- 
jority of  them  break  loose  once  more  and  go  back  to 
America  for  ever.  Of  those  who  remain,  very  few  accom- 
plish anything  in  the  way  of  productive  labor  themselves, 
not  to  speak  of  educating  their  neighbors.  If  they  have 
made  their  small  fortune  in  America  they  are  content  to 
spend  it  in  the  way  that  will  entail  the  least  exertion.  If 
not,  they  can  always  find  some  one  among  their  relatives 
who  is  glad  to  support  the  eminent  traveler  from  America. 
Stop  at  random  one  of  the  young  fellows  who  call  out  to 
you  as  you  go  by,  “Hullo,  boy ! Whu  yu  go’n,  Cholly  ?” 
and  ask  him  what  he  is  doing  now,  and  the  chances  are 
that  his  reply  will  be:  “Oh,  nothing  now.  I was  in 
America  four  years,  but  my  health  was  not  very  good 
there,  and  so  I came  home,  and  just  at  present  I am  not 
doing  anything.”  The  Greeks  in  America  are  on  the 
whole  an  industrious  lot,  but  when  they  go  back  they 
seem  all  too  often  to  be  even  more  indolent,  vain  and  im- 
pertinent than  they  were  before  they  left.  They  seem 
to  catch  the  spirit  of  whichever  country  they  are  in. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  too  harsh  in  this  condemnation. 
There  is  a reverse  side  to  the  shield,  but  it  must  be  con- 


234 


EFFECTS  ON  GREECE 


fessed  that  it  appears  to  be  a very  small  one.  A shining 
example  of  the  admirable  apphcation  of  American  ad- 
vantages is  furnished  by  the  httle  village  of  Tsipa  down 
on  the  Laconian  coast.  Its  brief  history  is  as  follows : 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  figures  in  modern  Athens 
is  that  of  old  Dr.  Kalopothakes,  a Protestant  missionary 
and  pastor,  of  long  and  noble  service.  When  his  son 
reached  college  age,  he  was  sent  to  America  and  entered 
Harvard  College,  from  which  he  graduated  with  a fine 
record.  He  returned  to  Greece,  and  a few  years  ago 
went  down  into  Laconia,  his  father’s  native  home,  and  in 
a sheltered  little  bay  near  Limeni  erected  an  up-to-date 
olive  press.  He  installed  a fine  steam  plant,  built  a com- 
fortable and  well-appointed  house  for  his  own  use  and 
altogether  put  up  a very  complete  and  efficient  establish- 
ment for  the  production  of  ohve  oil.  When  he  went  there 
his  house  was  the  only  one  there.  Now  there  is  a very 
flourishing  httle  village.  The  peasants  have  learned  the 
advantage  of  having  him  press  their  olives  for  them,  and 
the  enterprise  is  of  benefit  and  profit  both  to  him  and  them. 
Mr.  Kalopothakes  has  taught  the  peasants  the  value  of 
Sunday  observance  and  honest  dealing,  as  well  as  of  up- 
to-date  business  methods.  All  up  and  down  the  coast  his 
name  is  spoken  with  respect. 

If  such  an  example  as  this  were  only  followed  more 
universally,  the  whole  aspect  of  Greek  emigration  would 
be  diff'erent. 


235 


CHAPTER  XII 


Effects  on  the  United  States 

r I iHE  discussion  of  the  effects  of  Greek  immigration 
upon  the  United  States  must  of  necessity  be  merely  a 
forecast,  and  a rather  unsatisfactory  one  at  that.  The 
annual  Greek  immigration  as  yet  bears  such  a small  pro- 
portion to  the  great  current  of  the  total  immigration, 
and  the  total  Greek  population  of  the  United  States  is 
such  an  infinitesimal  part  of  the  whole,  that  it  is  not  to 
be  expected  that  these  people  should  have  made  a very 
definite  impress  on  the  life  of  our  great  nation.  More 
than  this,  the  movement  from  Greece  to  the  United  States 
is  of  altogether  too  recent  origin  for  its  ultimate  effects 
even  to  have  begun  to  be  apparent.  One  of  the  com- 
monest errors  of  writers  on  sociological  topics  is  to  allow 
too  little  time  for  the  action  of  social  forces.  We  are 
inchned  to  think  that  the  effects  of  a certain  social  phe- 
nomenon, which  we  are  able  to  detect  in  our  lifetime,  are 
the  permanent  and  final  effects.  We  forget  that  these 
matters  may  require  many  generations  to  work  themselves 
out. 

No  better  illustration  of  this  could  be  asked  for  than 
that  furnished  by  the  case  of  the  negroes  in  the  United 
States.  The  importation  of  these  people  began  many 
generations  ago.  To  our  ancestors  it  undoubtedly 
seemed  a perfectly  natural  thing  to  do,  and  for  centuries 
it  did  not  occur  to  anybody  to  even  question  its  rightful- 
ness or  its  expediency.  When  objections  began  to  be 
raised  they  were  feeble  and  easily  put  aside.  But  at  last, 
the  presence  of  this  peculiar  class  of  people  in  the  country 


236 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES 


involved  the  nation  in  a terrible  and  bloody  conflict,  which 
worked  irreparable  injury  to  the  American  stock  by  the 
annihilation  of  the  flower  of  southern  manhood,  arid  left 
us  a problem  which  is  probably  the  greatest  one  before 
the  American  people  today — one  which  we  have  hardly 
begun  to  solve.  There  is  much  of  similarity  between  the 
case  of  the  negroes  and  that  of  the  modern  immigrants. 
To  be  sure,  the  newcomers  of  today  are  for  the  most  part 
white-skinned  instead  of  colored,  which  gives  a different 
aspect  to  the  matter.  Yet  in  the  mind  of  the  average 
American,  the  modern  immigrants  are  generally  regarded 
as  inferior  peoples — races  which  he  looks  down  on,  and 
with  which  he  does  not  wish  to  associate  on  terms  of  social 
equality.  Like  the  negroes,  they  are  brought  in  for 
economic  reasons,  to  do  the  hard  and  menial  work  to  which 
an  American  does  not  care  to  stoop.  The  business  of 
the  alien  is  to  go  into  the  mines,  the  foundries,  the  sewers, 
the  stifling  air  of  factories  and  work  shops,  out  on  the 
roads  and  railroads  in  the  burning  sun  of  summer,  or  the 
driving  sleet  and  snow.  If  he  proves  himself  a man,  and 
rises  above  his  station,  and  acquires  wealth,  and  cleans 
himself  up — very  well,  we  receive  him  after  a generation 
or  two.  But  at  present  he  is  far  beneath  us,  and  the 
burden  of  proof  rests  with  him. 

The  parallel  need  not  be  carried  further.  But  is  it  too 
much  to  say,  that  the  problem  of  the  immigrant  is  as  yet 
in  the  very  embryo,  and  it  may  well  be  a hundred  years 
before  the  nation  begins  to  pay  the  penalty  for  the  mis- 
takes that  we  are  making  today,  in  the  regulation  and 
treatment  of  our  alien  population.? 

In  its  broadest  aspect  the  discussion  of  the  effects  of 
Greek  immigration  upon  this  country  would  be  but  a part 


337 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


of  the  consideration  of  the  general  effects  of  all  immi- 
gration. It  is  far  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work  to  even 
touch  the  border  of  this  tremendously  important,  perplex- 
ing and  many-sided  problem.  As  for  the  Greeks  them- 
selves, the  most  we  can  do  is  to  review  the  considerations 
which  have  gone  before,  and  seek  to  determine  the  prob- 
able outcome  of  the  tendencies  which  we  have  discerned. 
For  this  purpose,  the  reader  who  has  in  mind  the  discus- 
sions included  in  the  preceding  pages,  has  practically  the 
same  data  as  the  writer. 

If  the  supposition  so  prevalent  in  Greece,  that  all  the 
Greeks  in  the  United  States  will  return  to  their  native 
land  in  the  course  of  a few  years,  were  true,  our  problem 
would  be  merely  the  discussion  of  the  value  to  our  nation 
of  a temporary  laboring  force,  imported  for  a few  years 
from  a foreign  country,  and  returning  thither  again 
after  their  prime  was  past.  This  is  a matter  for  indi- 
vidual judgment,  though  there  would  be  many  patent 
advantages  about  such  a system.  But  as  we  have  seen, 
we  are  not  dealing  today  with  such  a class  in  the  case  of 
the  Greeks.  They  are  coming  here  to  stay — to  establish 
themselves  in  business,  and  make  this  their  home. 

In  regard  to  their  economic  avocations,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  prospects  are  that  within  a generation  or  less  the 
Greeks  will  practically  control  the  candy,  ice  cream,  fruit 
and  bootblacking  businesses  in  the  United  States,  and  will 
have  a strong  hold  on  the  restaurant  business.  To  this, 
in  itself,  there  will  hardly  be  objections,  so  long  as  they 
carry  the  business  on  honestly  and  respectably,  and  render 
good  service,  as  they  seem  to.  But  the  padrone  system 
and  contract  labor  system,  which  are  at  present  bound  up 
with  some  of  these  industries,  are  a menace  to  some  of  our 


238 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES 


most  cherished  ideals,  and  unless  our  Greek  population  can 
and  will  rid  itself  of  this  reproach,  it  would  be  better  if 
every  one  of  them,  who  has  any  connection  with  these 
practices,  were  driven  from  our  shores. 

As  factory  workers,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the 
Greeks  have  as  yet  had  any  effect  upon  the  country,  except 
to  add  a rather  troublesome  element  to  the  population  of 
some  of  the  cities  in  which  they  settle.  In  the  railroad 
work,  and  in  miscellaneous  occupations,  the  Greeks  are 
merely  a handful  among  our  great  laboring  class,  doing 
their  work  with  average  ability  and  faithfulness. 

As  a factor  in  the  charitable  work  of  the  country,  the 
Greeks  cut  no  figure.  Practically  every  one  of  them  has 
his  own  means  of  support,  and  they  are  no  burden  to  the 
community.  Whether  this  state  of  affairs  will  change 
as  time  goes  on,  time  alone  can  tell,  though  the  indications 
are  that  it  will  not  to  any  great  extent. 

The  criminal  record  of  the  Greeks  is  less  favorable. 
While  there  are  few  major  criminals  among  them,  they 
are  probably  a greater  tax  on  the  police  courts  of  the 
country,  in  proportion  to  their  total  number,  than  any 
other  class  of  our  population.  But  their  record  for  the 
past  decade  gives  us  ground  for  hope  that  the  years  will 
bring  an  improvement  in  this  direction.  But  it  seems 
likely  that  the  presence  of  this  race  in  the  country  will 
add  to,  rather  than  diminish,  the  growing  indifference  to 
law  as  such,  which  is  one  of  the  most  threatening  signs  of 
the  times.  This  lack  of  reverence  for  law,  and  every 
form  of  authority,  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  the  chil- 
dren of  immigrants  of  every  race.  But  the  Greeks  appear 
to  have  it  when  they  come.  What  the  character  of  their 
children  will  be  in  this  respect  we  can  only  conjecture. 


239 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


The  sums  of  money  sent  home  each  year  are  relatively 
too  insignificant  to  be  of  any  importance  to  this  country. 
Politically,  the  only  effects  the  Greeks  have  had  is  to  add 
a slight  increment  to  the  Republican  party.  In  Omaha, 
not  long  ago,  this  party  was  accused  of  making  use  of  the 
Greeks  fraudulently  to  increase  their  voting  list.*  In  the 
wider  and  higher  social  and  intellectual  life  of  the  country, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Greeks  as  yet  have  taken  little  part. 

Table  17  gives  the  figures  for  the  international  com- 
merce between  Greece  and  the  United  States  for  the  decade 
1898  to  1907.  There  is  a considerable  increase  in  the 
imports  from  Greece,  particularly  in  the  last  two  years. 
The  exports  to  Greece  show  little  change  until  the  last 
year  of  the  period  when  there  is  a very  sudden  rise.  The 
increased  immigration  undoubtedly  accounts  largely  for 
the  increase  in  imports,  as  it  creates  a greater  demand  for 
Greek  products.  The  rise  in  exports  may  be  explained 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Austro-American  steamship 
line. 

The  great  question  which,  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks,  as 
well  as  of  every  other  class  of  our  alien  population,  is  of 
vital  importance  and  interest  to  the  country,  is.  Will  they 
make  good  citizens  .f*  The  answer  to  this  depends  prima- 
rily upon  one’s  individual  opinion  of  what  is  a good  Amer- 
ican citizen.  Some  writers  go  so  far  as  to  intimate  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a distinctive  American  citizen. 
A large  proportion  of  our  population  seems  to  look  upon 
the  ideal  American  citizen  as  the  man  who  tends  strictly 
to  business,  makes  money,  lets  other  people  severely  alone 
and  expects  them  to  do  the  same.  If  we  adopt  this  point 
of  view,  we  can  have  little  hesitation  in  saying  that  the 
* Morning  World-Herald,  Omaha,  October  29,  1908. 


240 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Greeks  answer  the  requirements,  for  as  we  have  seen,  they 
are  distinctly  a money-making  class  in  this  country,  and 
if  some  of  the  methods  hy  which  they  do  it  will  not  bear 
investigation — that  is  nobody’s  business,  according  to  the 
hypothesis. 

But  if  we  look  at  the  matter  more  broadly,  and  think 
of  the  ideal  American  citizen  as  one  who  has  the  higher 
and  better  interests  of  himself,  his  neighbor  and  his  coun- 
try at  heart,  and  who  believes  that  he  ought  to  contribute 
to  the  general  betterment  of  his  community  during  his 
lifetime,  and  give  at  least  as  much  as  he  gets — from  this 
point  of  view  the  answer  to  the  question  is  much  less  cer- 
tain. In  this  respect,  the  effect  of  the  immigrant  upon 
the  country  is  the  effect  of  the  country  upon  the  immi- 
grant, viewed  from  a different  angle.  If  the  immigrant 
finds  his  change  of  residence  an  advantage,  if  he  prospers 
morally  and  socially  as  well  as  financially,  the  chances  are 
that  he  will  give  back  to  the  country  something  in  return 
for  what  he  gets.  But  if  the  conditions  in  which  he  finds 
himself  placed  in  his  new  home  are  such  as  to  cause  him 
to  preserve,  or  even  increase,  any  low  ideals,  vicious  habits 
or  degenerate  propensities  that  he  may  have,  he  is,  by  so 
much,  a hindrance  to  the  country  of  his  adoption. 

As  far  as  the  Greeks  are  concerned,  at  least,  it  seems 
undeniable  that  the  determination  of  the  question,  into 
which  of  these  two  categories  the  immigrant  shall  go,  is 
largely  a matter  of  distribution.  It  has  been  frequently 
remarked  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  discussion,  that 
the  evil  tendencies  of  Greek  life  in  this  country  manifest 
themselves  most  fully  when  the  immigrants  are  collected 
into  compact,  isolated,  distinctively  Greek  colonies,  and 
that  when  the  Greek  is  separated  from  the  group  and 


241 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


thrown  into  relations  with  Americans  of  the  better  class, 
he  develops  and  displays  many  admirable  qualities.  Our 
system  and  machinery  for  regulating  the  admission  of 
aliens  is  very  complete  and  well-organized.  But  we  do 
practically  nothing  for  them,  after  they  are  once  inside 
the  border.  We  talk  with  smug  complacency  of  the  mar- 
velous assimilative  power  of  America.  We  are,  in  fact,  by 
no  means  sure  that  these  great  hordes  of  foreign  nation- 
alities are  in  any  true  sense  assimilated,  even  after  many 
years  of  residence  in  this  country.  It  is  assuming  alto- 
gether too  much  to  think  that  mere  residence  within  the 
confines  of  the  United  States  will  make  true  Americans 
out  of  uncultured  aliens,  when,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case 
of  the  Greeks,  a large  proportion  of  them  do  not  even  learn 
the  English  language.  It  is  a great  question  whether  the 
United  States  is  in  any  sense  ready  or  fit,  in  its  attitude 
toward  the  immigrant,  or  in  its  facilities  for  giving  him 
the  advantages  of  American  life,  to  undertake  the  tremen- 
dous responsibility  of  receiving  the  immense  hordes  of 
foreigners  who  are  flocking  to  our  shores  each  year.* 

* A striking  illustration  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  occurred 
in  the  winter  of  1908-09  in  South  Omaha,  Nebraska.  On  Friday, 
February  19,  a Greek  in  that  city  shot  and  killed  a police  ofBcer  who 
had  arrested  him  for  keeping  company  with  a girl  under  suspicious 
circumstances.  The  following  Sunday  afternoon  a mass  meeting  was 
held  at  the  city  hall,  at  which  addresses  were  made  by  two  of  the 
members  of  the  state  legislature,  and  a former  city  attorney.  The 
passions  of  the  crowd  became  inflamed  and  they  proceeded  to  the 
Greek  quarter  in  a spirit  of  mad  lawlessness,  and  “cleaned  it  out,” 
burning  buildings,  smashing  glass,  and  driving  the  denizens  out  of  the 
city.  No  lives  were  lost  but  the  total  damage  was  estimated  at  not 
less  than  $25,000.  An  interesting  sidelight  on  the  event  is  thrown  by 
the  fact  that  many  of  those  concerned  in  the  riots,  and  probably  the 
oflBcer  himself,  were  Irishmen. 


242 


PEASANT  TYPES,  MEGALOPOLIS 


EFFECTS  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES 


We  have  seen  that  many  of  the  evils  which  attach  to 
Greek  hfe  in  this  country  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  pop- 
ulation is  almost  wholly  male.  How  long  this  will  con- 
tinue to  be  the  case,  there  is  no  way  of  telling.  It  may 
be  that  within  a few  years  Greek  emigration  will  begin  to 
have  more  of  a family  nature.  In  that  case  the  future  of 
the  race  in  this  country  will  be  brighter.  It  will  help  to 
draw  the  Greeks  away  from  the  consolidated  colonies,  tend 
to  throw  them  into  closer  relations  with  American  fami- 
lies, and  perhaps  lead  more  of  them  to  take  up  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  which  would  be  an  undoubted  improve- 
ment.* 

There  is  much  about  Greek  life,  as  seen  in  Greece,  that 
is  very  attractive,  in  the  way  of  hospitality,  courtesy, 
music,  love  of  outdoors,  and  the  tempering  of  business 
activity  with  a certain  amount  of  leisure  and  social  inter- 
course. If  the  immigrant  Greek  could  add  some  of  these 
elements,  even  in  a very  small  measure,  to  the  life  of 
America,  his  presence  would  be  a benefit  to  the  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  America  has  much  to  give  the  Greek, 
in  respect  of  commercial  honesty,  unselfishness,  truthful- 
ness, harmony,  stability,  regard  for  women  and  children, 
and  social  virtue.  But  to  accomplish  these  ends,  the 
Greek  and  the  American  must  know  each  other.  Only  as 
the  conditions  become  such  that  the  old  inhabitants  and 
the  newcomer  are  thrown  into  close  touch  and  personal 
relations  with  each  other,  can  this  mutual  interchange  of 
ideals  and  customs  take  place,  and  the  fact  of  Greek  immi- 
gration into  the  United  States  be  made  of  advantage 
both  to  them  and  to  us. 

* Gortzis,  America  and  Americans,  pages  71  and  73. 


243 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  1. 

Peikcipal  Manufactuhes  ik  Opebaxiok  IK  THE  Leadikg  Cities  of 
Greece.  Number  of  Establishmekts.* 

1905. 

Cities:  Athens,  Piraeus,  Patras,  Volo,  Syra,  Corfu. 

Steam  flour  mills  .........  28 

Cotton  mills  ..........  13 

Macaroni  factories  .........  44 

Machine  shops  and  foundries  .......  39 

Tanneries  ..........  91 

Carriage  factories  .........  31 

Soap  factories  ..........  30 

Steam  currant-cleaning  factories  . . . . . .14 

Olive  oil  factories  .........  11 

Straw  hat  factories  .........  43 

Saddle  and  harness  factories  .......  36 

Chair  factories  ..........  50 

Picture  frame  factories  ........  28 

Roofing  and  tile  factories  ........  34 

Marble  yards  ..........  76 

Shoemakers’  shops  .........  564 


* Reports  of  Consul-General  George  W.  Horton,  1905. 


247 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  2. 

Customs  Tahiffs  iif  Geeece.* 

Reckoned  in  Gold  Drachmas. 

1906. 

Bicycles  ........  20  each. 

Boots  and  shoes  . . . . . .15  per  oke.f 

Coffee  ........  180  per  100  okes. 

Flour  ........  17.50  per  100  okes. 

Lumber  (pine  or  fir,  in  boards  20  millimeters  thick)  20  per  cubic  meter. 
Rice  (cleaned)  .......  17  per  100  okes. 

Saccharine  .......  Prohibited. 

Soap  ........  150  per  100  okes. 


* Reports  of  Consul-General  George  W.  Horton,  1906. 
f The  oke  is  a little  less  than  three  pounds. 


TABLE  3. 

Wages  pee  Day  in  Geeece.J 


1908. 


Brick  and  stone  layers  ..... 

5-7 

drachmas. 

Laborers  ....... 

3.50-4 

drachmas. 

Carpenters  ....... 

6-7 

drachmas. 

Painters  ....... 

4-7 

drachmas. 

Plumbers  ....... 

6.50-7 

drachmas. 

Clothing  (mostly  piece  work;  girls  finishing  suits 
by  hand)  ....... 

.40-.50 

drachmas. 

Compositors  ....... 

3.50-4 

drachmas. 

Farm  laborers  (male)  ..... 

3-3.75 

drachmas. 

Farm  laborers  (female)  .... 

2 

drachmas. 

Machinists  ....... 

8 

drachmas. 

Iron  moulders  ....... 

8 

drachmas. 

In  some  occupations  wages  vary  with  the  season. 


I Reports  of  Cousul-General  George  W.  Horton,  1908. 

248 


APPENDIX 


TABLE 

4. 

Prices 

IK  Greece.* 

Bread  (common) 

$ .035 

pound. 

Bread  (white) 

.06 

pound. 

Butter  (cooking) 

.32 

pound. 

Butter  (fresh) 

1.30 

pound. 

Cheese  (macaroni) 

.26 

pound. 

Coffee 

.23-26 

pound. 

Salmon  (canned) 

.54 

pound. 

Fish  (fresh) 

.15-38  poimd. 

Flour 

.056 

pound. 

Apples  (fresh) 

.13 

poimd. 

Oranges 

.22 

dozen. 

Ham  (boiled) 

1.04 

pound. 

Lemons 

.12 

dozen. 

Beef  (sirloin) 

.17 

pound. 

Beef  (fillet)  . 

.38 

pound. 

Lamb 

.32 

pound. 

Lamb  (yearling)  . 

.19 

pound. 

Pork  (fresh) 

.15 

pound. 

Milk  (fresh  cow’s) 

.54 

gallon. 

Milk  (goat’s) 

.43 

gallon. 

Oatmeal  (Quaker  Oats) 

.50 

pound. 

Sugar 

.10 

pound. 

Salt  .... 

.02 

pound. 

Tea  (Ceylon) 

1.30 

pound. 

Petroleum 

.75 

gallon. 

Wood  (fuel) 

10.00 

ton. 

Coke  . . . . 

10.00 

ton. 

Charcoal 

30.00 

ton. 

* Reports  of  Consul-General  George  W.  Horton,  1906. 


249 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  5. 


Peices  in  Gkeece.* 


1908. 

Sugar  ...... 

Coffee  ...... 

Tea  (medium  quality) 

Flour  ...... 

Soap  (washing)  .... 

Corn  meal  ..... 

Lamb  ...... 

Potatoes  ..... 

Salt  ...... 

Beans  ...... 

Bread  ...... 

Butter  ...... 

Oil 

Coke  ...... 

Wood 

Rice  ...... 

Kerosene  (.3513  gallon)  . 

Eggs 

Shoes  ...... 

Ordinary  woolen  suit 

Cheap  cotton  suit  .... 


$ 0.12  pound. 
.476  pound. 
.815  poimd. 
.047  pound. 
.095  pound. 
.068  pound. 
.204  pound. 
.034  pound. 
.027  pound. 
.095  pound. 
.04  pound. 
1.37  poimd. 
.136  pound. 
.004  pound. 
.0047  pound. 
.095  pound. 
.08 

.63  dozen. 
2.11-6.72 
28.80 
4.80 


* Reports  of  Consul-General  George  W.  Horton,  1908. 


250 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  6.* 


Immigrant  Greeks 

Arriving 

IN 

the  United  StateSj 

Fiscal 

Ended 

June  30. 

Year 

Male 

Female 

Total 

1883 

58 

15 

73 

1884 

34 

3 

37 

1885 

154 

18 

172 

1886 

95 

9 

104 

1887 

305 

8 

313 

1888 

768 

14 

782 

1889 

149 

9 

158 

1890 

464 

60 

524 

1891 

1,040 

65 

1,105 

1892 

604 

56 

660 

1893 

1,072 

1894 

1,356 

1895 

597 

1896 

2,175 

1897 

546 

25 

571 

1898 

2,339 

1899 

2,263 

132 

2,395 

1900 

3,655 

118 

3,773 

1901 

5,754 

165 

5,919 

1902 

7,854 

261 

8,115 

1903 

13,885 

491 

14,376 

1904 

12,106 

519 

12,625 

1905 

11,586 

558 

12,144 

1906 

22,266 

861 

23,127 

1907 

44,647 

1,636 

46,283 

1908 

26,972 

1,836 

28,808 

1909 

18,738 

1,524 

20,262 

Reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration. 


251 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  7 * 


Distributiom'  of  the  PoptrLAxioK  or  the  United  States  Born  in 
Greece  Among  the  Different  States,  Etc.,  1900. 


Alabama, 

129 

Montana, 

20 

Alaska, 

36 

Nebraska, 

23 

Arizona, 

10 

Nevada, 

4 

Arkansas, 

6 

New  Hampshire, 

44 

California, 

372 

New  Jersey, 

115 

Colorado, 

37 

New  Mexico, 

1 

Connecticut, 

121 

New  York, 

1,573 

Delaware, 

12 

North  Carolina, 

14 

District  of  Columbia, 

34 

North  Dakota, 

— 

Florida, 

98 

Ohio, 

213 

Georgia, 

191 

Oklahoma, 

3 

Hawaii, 

55 

Oregon, 

95 

Idaho, 

9 

Pennsylvania, 

465 

Illinois, 

1,570 

Rhode  Island, 

84 

Indiana, 

82 

South  Carolina, 

62 

Indian  Territory, 

2 

South  Dakota, 

3 

Iowa, 

18 

Tennessee, 

38 

Kansas, 

17 

Texas, 

169 

Kentucky, 

24 

Utah, 

3 

Louisiana, 

84 

Vermont, 

3 

Maine, 

7 

Virginia, 

59 

Maryland, 

95 

Washington, 

65 

Massachusetts, 

1,843 

West  Virginia, 

108 

Michigan, 

134 

Wisconsin, 

63 

Minnesota, 

75 

Wyoming, 

230 

Mississippi, 

22 

Missouri, 

66 

Total, 

8,655 

* United  States  Census,  Volume  I.,  Table  33. 


252 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  8 * 

DiSTMBTjnoir  of  the  Greek  Populatioit  of  the  Ukited  States  ik 
THE  Specified  Number  of  Cities  ih  the  Various 


States 

IK 

1904. 

No.  of 

No.  of 

State 

Cities 

Greeks 

Alabama 

. 3 

457 

Arkansas 

. 3 

78 

Arizona 

1 

27 

Connecticut 

. 9 

614 

California 

. 13 

4,472 

Colorado 

. 5 

778 

Delaware 

1 

38 

Florida 

6 

182 

Georgia 

. 6 

773 

Idaho 

. 2 

358 

Illinois 

. 13 

8,313 

Indiana 

. 9 

308 

Indian  Territory 

1 

20 

Iowa 

5 

156 

Kansas 

5 

224 

Kentucky 

. 3 

58 

Louisiana 

1 

250 

Maine 

. 4 

119 

Maryland 

. 2 

418 

Massachusetts 

. 30 

8,667 

Minnesota  . 

. 3 

241 

Mississippi  . 

. 3 

131 

Montana 

1 

72 

Nebraska 

1 

19 

Michigan 

. 8 

324 

Nevada 

1 

12 

New  Hampshire  . 

. 7 

406 

New  Jersey 

. 6 

446 

New  York  . 

. 25 

8,344 

North  Carolina  . 

1 

28 

North  Dakota 

. 1 

10 

*Theriiiopylae  Almanac,  1904,  pages  395  seq. 


253 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


No.  of 

No.  of 

State 

Cities 

Greeks 

Ohio  .... 

. 21 

795 

Oregon 

. 2 

110 

Pennsylvania 

. 26 

2,148 

Rhode  Island 

. 5 

253 

South  Carolina  . 

7 

157 

South  Dakota 

1 

14 

Tennessee 

2 

406 

Texas 

6 

344 

Utah  .... 

. 3 

573 

Vermont 

. 2 

29 

Virginia 

4 

155 

Washington 

. 3 

224 

West  Virginia  . 

1 

58 

Wisconsin  . 

6 

821 

Wyoming 

1 

40 

District  of  Columbia  . 

1 

289 

Alaska  Territory 

. 2 

38 

Total, 

43,607 

Workers  on  railroads 

and  in  fac- 

tories. 

24,000 

Grand  total. 


67,607 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  9* 

Sex,  Age  and  Illiteract  of  Greeks  Admitted,  Fiscal  Years  Ended 

June  30. 


Age 


Year 

1900 

Male 

3,655 

Sex 

Female 

118 

Total 

3,773 

0-14 

years 

388 

14-45  45  and 
years  over 

3,296  89 

1901 

5,754 

165 

5,919 

506 

5,238 

175 

1902 

7,854 

261 

8,115 

687 

7,227 

201 

1903 

. 13,885 

491 

14,376 

1,185 

12,951 

240 

1904 

. 12,106 

519 

12,625 

605 

11,883 

137 

1905 

. 11,586 

558 

12,144 

446 

11,523 

175 

1906 

. 22,266 

861 

23,127 

718 

22,174 

235 

1907 

. 44,647 

1,636 

46,283 

819 

45,169 

295 

1908 

. 26,972 

1,836 

28,808 

868 

27,617 

323 

Illiteracy 

OF  THOSE  14 

Years  Old  and  Over. 

Read  but 
not  write 

Neither  read 
nor  write 

— Percentages — 
Per  cent  Per  cent 

Illiterate  Males 

1900 

2 

578 

15.3 

96.6 

1901 

3 

1,398 

23.6 

97.2 

1902 

5 

2,224 

27.4 

96.8 

1903 

5 

3,653 

25.4 

95.9 

1904 

16 

2,821 

22.4 

95.4 

1905 

10 

2,665 

21.9 

96.3 

1906 

12 

5,256 

22.7 

96.4 

1907 

19 

13,883 

30.0 

93.6 

1908 

3 

7,951 

27.6 

93.7 

*Reports  Commissioner-General  of 


Immigration. 


255 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  10  * 


A. 

Money  Shown  by  Greeks  Admitted  to  the  United  States,  Fiscal 
Years  Ended  June  30.f 


Year 

1900 

Total 

. 3,773 

1901 

. 5,919 

1902 

8,115 

1903 

. 14,376 

1904 

. 12,625 

1905 

. 12,144 

1906 

. 23,127 

1907 

. 46,283 

1908 

. 28,808 

Money  Shown  J — — 


$30.00  or 
Over 

Less 

than 

$30.00 

Total 

Money 

Shown 

Average 
Money 
per  Capita 

346 

2,971 

$108,592 

$28.78 

509 

4,925 

92,145 

15.57 

849 

6,520 

141,581 

17.45 

1,814 

10,860 

269,912 

18.77 

1,000 

10,911 

349,875 

27.71 

1,152 

10,310 

331,871 

27.33 

1,571 

20,013 

545,611 

23.59 

2,365 

38,945 

967,972 

20.91 

1,688 

24,476 

577,879 

20.06 

B. 


Greeks  Admitted  into  the  United  States  Who  Have  Been  Here 
Before — Fiscal  Years  Ended  June  30. 


1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 


335 

306 

290 

451 

593 

1,021 

1,303 

1,041 

1,021 


*Reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration. 

•j-These  figures  are  not  exact,  as  the  total  of  the  two  classes  given 
in  the  table  does  not  coincide  with  the  total  immigration. 

^Beginning  with  1904  the  classification  is  on  the  basis  of  those  who 
show  $50  more  or  less,  instead  of  $30. 


256 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  11  * 


Greeks  Debarred^  Deported  and  Relieved  ik  Hospital,  Fiscal  Years 

Exded  Juke  30. 


Debarred 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

Feeble  minded 

3 

Insane  persons 

4 

1 

1 

Paupers,  or  likely  to  become 
public  charges  . 

63 

70 

67 

474 

429 

193 

365 

393 

217 

Loathsome  or  dangerous  con- 
tagious diseases 

9 

10 

12 

29 

45 

100 

31 

107 

115 

Convicts  .... 

1 

5 

Surgeon’s  certificate  of  defect 

57 

Under  sixteen  years  unac- 
companied 

11 

Assisted  aliens 

1 

Criminals  .... 

3 

Accompanying  aliens  . 

24 

15 

7 

Contract  laborers  . 

4 

2 

1 

111 

53 

60 

432 

63 

44 

Total  debarred 

76 

82 

80 

614 

527 

353 

857 

584 

459 

Returned  after  1,  2 or  3 years 

2 

2 

2 

2 

21 

10 

10 

21 

67 

Relieved  in  hospital 

41 

31 

51 

121 

100 

70 

189 

357 

Per  cent  debarred 

2.0 

1.3 

1.0 

4.3 

4.2 

2.9 

3.7 

1.3 

1.6 

General  per  cent  of  total  im- 
migration debarred  . 0.95 

0.72 

0.75 

1.02 

0.98 

1.15 

1.12 

1.02 

1.39 

* Reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration. 


257 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  12.* 

Occupations  of  Greeks  Admitted,  Fiscal  Years  Ended  June  30. 


Miscellaneous 


Year 

Profes- 

sional 

Skilled 

Farm 

Laborers 

Laborers 

Per  cent 
Total  Unskilledt 

1900  . 

14 

595 

1,100 

1,165 

2,478 

66 

1901  . 

17 

787 

2,579 

1,502 

4,370 

74 

1902  . 

16 

922 

3,818 

1,641 

5,913 

73 

1903  . 

44 

1,662 

3,680 

6,048 

10,583 

73 

1904  . 

89 

1,808 

3,225 

5,357 

9,697 

77 

1905  . 

72 

1,524 

2,639 

5,818 

9,679 

79 

1906  . 

98 

2,021 

4,615 

12,975 

19,496 

84 

1907  . 

87 

2,165 

6,924 

33,444 

42,086 

91 

1908  . 

92 

1,082 

2,876 

21,004 

25,107 

87 

*Reports  of  the 

Commissioner-General 

of  Immigration. 

fApproximate. 

TABLE  13.* 

Greek  Population  of  Some  of  the  Leading  Cities  of  the  United 

States. 

1908. 


( Approximate. ) 


Albany,  N.  Y., 

400 

Brockton,  Mass., 

100 

Allegheny,  Pa., 

100 

Bridgeport,  Conn., 

400 

Altoona,  Pa., 

80 

Buffalo,  N.  Y., 

400 

Atlanta,  Ga., 

500 

Butler,  Pa., 

150 

Augusta,  Ga., 

80 

Canton,  Ohio, 

100 

Aurora,  111., 

200 

Central  Falls,  R.  I., 

150 

Baltimore,  Md., 

400 

Charlotte,  N.  C., 

100 

Berkeley,  Calif., 

100 

Cheyenne,  Wyo., 

300 

Biddeford,  Me., 

450 

Chicago,  111., 

15,000 

Birmingham,  Ala., 

500 

Chicopee,  Mass., 

100 

Boise,  Idaho, 

300 

Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

500 

Boston,  Mass., 

1,500 

Clinton,  Mass., 

150 

*Greek-American  Guide,  1909,  pages  359,  361. 


258 


APPENDIX 


Cleveland,  Ohio, 

250 

Lynn,  Mass., 

1,500 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo., 

150 

Madison,  111., 

120 

Columbus,  Ohio, 

150 

McKeesport,  Pa., 

200 

Concord,  N.  H., 

150 

Manchester,  N.  H., 

3,000 

Cripple  Creek,  Colo., 

100 

Marlboro,  Mass., 

100 

Danbury,  Conn., 

100 

Marysville,  Calif., 

100 

Dayton,  Ohio, 

150 

Memphis,  Tenn., 

200 

Denver,  Colo., 

600 

Milwaukee,  Wis., 

600 

Des  Moines,  la.. 

150 

Minneapolis,  Minn., 

300 

Detroit,  Mich., 

400 

Mobile,  Ala., 

350 

Dover,  N.  H. 

150 

Moline,  111., 

250 

Duluth,  Minn., 

100 

Montgomery,  Ala., 

150 

Ely,  Nev., 

400 

Nashville,  Tenn., 

200 

Elsey,  Ala., 

300 

Nashua,  N.  H., 

1,500 

Eureka,  Nev., 

120 

Newark,  N.  J., 

500 

Fall  River,  Mass., 

350 

New  Bedford,  Mass., 

450 

Fitchburg,  Mass., 

200 

Newcastle,  Pa., 

140 

Fond  du  Lac,  Wis., 

130 

New  Haven,  Conn., 

300 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind., 

150 

New  Orleans,  La., 

300 

Fresno,  Calif., 

150 

Newport  News,  Va., 

200 

Galveston,  Tex., 

300 

Newport,  R.  I., 

250 

Garsten,  Ala., 

150 

N.  Y.  City  (Greater), 

20,000 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich., 

150 

Norwich,  Conn., 

200 

Garfield,  Utah, 

400 

Oakland,  Calif., 

450 

Harrisburg,  Pa., 

100 

Ogden,  Utah, 

400 

Hartford,  Conn., 

150 

Omaha,  Neb., 

1,500 

Haverhill,  Mass., 

700 

Orange,  N.  J., 

400 

Holyoke,  Mass., 

150 

Oroville,  Calif., 

80 

Indianapolis,  Ind., 

400 

Oneida,  Idaho, 

200 

Jacksonville,  Fla., 

150 

Pawtucket,  R.  I., 

250 

Kansas  City,  Kan., 

100 

Peabody,  Mass., 

300 

Kansas  City,  Mo., 

450 

Pensacola,  Fla., 

250 

Kirmara,  Idaho, 

150 

Philadelphia,  Pa., 

1,800 

Lancaster,  Pa., 

100 

Pittsburg,  Pa., 

3,500 

LaCrosse,  Wis., 

100 

Pocatello,  Idaho, 

300 

Laramie,  Wyo., 

250 

Portland,  Ore., 

1,500 

Lawrence,  Mass., 

200 

Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y., 

200 

Lewiston,  Me., 

200 

Providence,  R.  I., 

500 

Lincoln,  Neb., 

100 

Pueblo,  Colo., 

900 

Los  Angeles,  Calif., 

600 

Reading,  Pa., 

350 

I.owell,  Mass., 

7,000 

Reno,  Nev., 

150 

259 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Roanoke,  Va., 

100 

Stamford,  Conn., 

300 

Rochester,  N.  Y., 

250 

Stockton,  CaUf., 

100 

Rock  Island,  lU., 

350 

Syracuse,  N.  Y., 

275 

Sacramento,  Calif., 

250 

Tampa,  Fla., 

120 

St.  Louis,  Mo., 

2,000 

Thompsonville,  Conn., 

175 

St.  Paul,  Minn., 

200 

Taunton,  Mass., 

150 

Salem,  Mass., 

150 

Terre  Haute,  Ind., 

150 

Salida,  Colo., 

80 

Tarpon  Springs,  Fla., 

1,000 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 

2,000 

Topeka,  Kan., 

150 

Santa  Barbara,  CaUf., 

80 

Troy,  N.  Y., 

100 

San  Francisco,  Calif., 

3,000 

Utica,  N.  Y., 

100 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mich., 

250 

Washington,  D.  C., 

400 

Savannah,  Ga., 

500 

Wheeling,  W.  Va., 

200 

Schenectady,  N.  Y., 

250 

Wilkesbarre,  Pa., 

160 

Seattle,  Wash., 

500 

Wilmington,  Del., 

200 

Sheboygan,  Wis., 

450 

Woburn,  Mass., 

250 

Sioux  FaUs,  S.  C., 

100 

Worcester,  Mass., 

450 

Somersworth,  N.  H., 

200 

Youngstown,  Ohio, 

100 

South  Omaha,  Neb., 

400 

York,  Pa., 

100 

Springfield,  Mass., 

300 

TABLE  14.* 

Destination  of  Greeks  Admitted  to  the  United  States,  Fiscax  Years 

Ended  June  30. 


state 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 

1908 

California, 

16 

36 

59 

155 

142 

115 

328 

1,608 

726 

Illinois, 

1,000 

2,136 

2,663 

4,318 

2,879 

1,504 

2,817 

5,070 

2,514 

M’sachusetts, 

865 

943 

1,173 

2,538 

2,119 

2,108 

3,879 

7,293 

4,116 

New  Hamp., 

4 

11 

42 

284 

298 

585 

1,274 

2,377 

915 

New  York, 

1,429 

2,127 

2,935 

4,182 

3,579 

3,154 

6,150 

14,372 

10,927 

Pennsylvania, 

105 

141 

436 

1,092 

906 

692 

1,520 

2,681 

1,788 

Wisconsin, 

3 

9 

67 

177 

294 

242 

664 

1,306 

694 

Missouri, 

67 

774 

1,671 

2,326 

3,121 

1,856 

New  Jersey, 

169 

326 

1,100 

430 

*Reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration. 


260 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  15. 

Distributiok  of  Greek  Industries  Among  the  Cities  of  the  United 

States. 

[From  the  Thermopylae  Almanac,  1904.] 

Number  of  cities  in  the  different  states  having  at  least  one  store 
of  the  type  specified: 

Candy  Stores  Fruit  Stores 


Alabama, 

2 

1 

Arkansas, 

1 

1 

California, 

4 

3 

Colorado, 

1 

Connecticut, 

4 

Delaware, 

1 

District  of  Columbia, 

1 

Florida, 

2 

Georgia, 

4 

3 

Illinois, 

3 

1 

Indiana, 

8 

Iowa, 

4 

Louisiana, 

1 

Kansas, 

2 

Massachusetts, 

8 

3 

Maryland, 

3 

1 

Michigan, 

6 

2 

Minnesota, 

2 

Mississippi, 

1 

New  Hampshire, 

2 

New  Jersey, 

7 

1 

New  York, 

37 

4 

North  Carolina, 

1 

1 

Ohio, 

13 

1 

Oklahoma, 

1 

Pennsylvania, 

24 

2 

Rhode  Island, 

2 

. 

South  Carolina, 

3 

2 

Tennessee, 

3 

1 

Texas, 

6 

2 

Vermont, 

1 

West  Virginia, 

2 

Wisconsin, 

3 

, 

261 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


TABLE  16. 

Classificatiok  of  Advertisements  in  Two  Copies  of  the  “Atlantis,” 
OF  Average  Character. 

(Issue  of  November  25,  1908.) 

Total  advertising  space  (not  want  ads.)  725  square  inches 


Steamship  lines  .... 

179 

sq. 

in. 

Confectioners,  confectioners’  supplies 

and 

furniture  ..... 

114 

sq. 

in. 

Doctors,  medical  institutes,  etc.  . 

69 

sq. 

in. 

General  .... 

26 

Private  diseases 

43 

Shoe  polish  .... 

45 

sq. 

in. 

Importers  .... 

45 

sq. 

in. 

Tobacco  and  tobacco  stores 

34 

sq. 

in. 

Banks  ..... 

33 

sq. 

in. 

Jewelry  ..... 

31 

sq. 

in. 

General  stores  (groceries)  . 

30 

sq. 

in. 

Dentists  ..... 

17 

sq. 

in. 

Miscellaneous  .... 

128 

sq. 

in. 

Total, 


725  square  inches 


(Issue  of  November  11,  1908.) 

Total  advertising  space  (not  want  ads.)  612  square  inches 


Steamship  lines  ..... 

Confectioners,  confectioners’  supplies  and 
furniture  ...... 

Doctors,  medical  institutes,  etc. 

General  ....  30 

Private  diseases  ...  50 

Shoe  polish  ..... 

Miscellaneous  ..... 


166  sq.  in. 

100  sq.  in. 
80  sq.  in. 


50  sq.  in. 
216  sq.  in. 


Total, 


612  square  inches 


Note. — The  figures  in  this  table  do  not  include  book  advertise- 
ments inserted  by  the  Atlantis  Company,  of  which  there  are  a large 
number. 


262 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  17.* 

Inteknationax  Commerce  Between  Greece  and  the  United 

States. 


Year 

Imports  from  Greece 
into  the  United  States 

Exports  from 
United  States  to 

1898 

. s 910,390 

$ 127,559 

1899 

944,521 

213,507 

1900 

1,122,855 

290,709 

1901 

1,124,775 

291,538 

1902 

1,563,142 

305,950 

1903 

1,326,935 

330,844 

1904 

1,588,946 

242,229 

1905 

1,270,792 

181,970 

1906 

. 2,032,408 

239,726 

1907 

. 3,086,417 

1,634,431 

*Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States,  1907,  page  292. 


263 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Books. 


Baedeker,  Karl 

Greece. 

Bailey,  William  B. 

Modern  Social  Conditions. 

Booras,  John 

Thermopylae  Almanac,  1904  (Greek). 

Bushee  .... 

• • 

Ethnic  Factors  in  the  Population  of 
Boston. 

Brandenburg,  B.  . 

• 

Imported  Americans. 

Canoutas,  S.  G. 

Greek-American  Guide,  1909 

(Greek). 

Commissioner  - General 

of 

Immigration 

. 

Annual  Reports. 

Commons,  John  R. 

• 

Races  and  Immigrants  in  America. 

Cox,  G.  W.  . . . 

General  History  of  Greece. 

Edgar,  W.  C.  . . 

The  Story  of  a Grain  of  Wheat. 

Gortzis,  N.  . . . 

America  and  Americans  (Greek). 

Hall,  P.  F.  . . . 

Immigration. 

Hull  House  . 

Maps  and  Papers. 

Keller,  A.  G.  . . 

Colonization. 

Kenngott,  George  F. 

Housing  Conditions  in  Lowell 
(Unpublished). 

Lascarato,  Andrew 

• • 

The  Mysteries  of  Cephalonia 

(Greek). 

Malthus,  Thomas  R. 

• 

Essay  on  Population. 

Perdicaris,  G.  A.  . 

Greece  of  the  Greeks. 

Ripley,  William  Z. 

• . 

The  Races  of  Europe. 

Smith,  Adam 

Wealth  of  Nations. 

Steiner,  E.  A.  . 

On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant. 

United  States  . 

Census  Publications. 

Magazine  Articles. 

Anthropological  Review  . . 4:xcix.,  Quotation  from  Hyde  Clarke, 

Anthropological  Investigations 
in  Smyrna. 

6 : 154,  J.  B.  D.,  Greek  Anthropol- 
ogy, Review  of  Nicolucci. 


267 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Bent,  J.  Theodore  . . . . In  a Greek  Family  To-day,  Littell’s 

Living  Age,  162: 110. 

Greek  Peasant  Life,  Littell’s  Living 
Age,  170:630. 

Blackie,  John  Stuart  . . . Christian  Greece,  Blackw^ood’s,  153: 

126. 

Modern  Greece,  Forum,  23: 113. 
Blackwood’s  Magazine  . . 43:469,  620,  Modern  Greece. 

67 : 526,  Modern  Greece. 

76:403,  King  Otho  and  His  Classic 
Kingdom. 

79:304,  Greek  Church. 


Chautauquan 14:573,  Modern  Greece  and  the  Bal- 

kan States. 

d’Estournelles,  P Superstitions  of  Modern  Greece, 

Century,  11:586. 

Eastman,  G The  Greco-Turkish  War,  Chautau- 

quan, 25:348. 

Elliott,  W.  A The  Modern  Greek,  Chautauquan, 

43: 144. 

Fairchild,  H.  P Distribution  of  Immigrants,  Yale 

Review,  November,  1907. 

Felton,  Eunice  W Industries  of  Modern  Greece,  Lip- 

pincott’s,  34 : 388. 

Galloway,  M.  A.  A.  . . . Free  Greece,  Nineteenth  Century, 

23:893. 

Gladstone,  W.  E Greece  and  the  Treaty  of  Berlin, 

Nineteenth  Century,  5:1121. 

Hanbury,  R.  W The  Spoilt  Child  of  Europe,  Nine- 

teenth Century,  6 : 928. 

Harris,  Walter  B The  Conduct  and  Present  Condition 

of  Greece,  Blackwood’s,  162:268. 

Koeppen,  A.  L Sketches  of  a Traveler  from  Greece, 

Mercersburg  Review,  9 : 402. 

Lascaris The  Threatened  Depopulation  of 

Greece,  Chambers’  Journal, 
83:40. 

Lawrence,  Eugene  ....  The  Greek  Church,  Harper’s  Month- 
ly, 45 : 405. 

Lawton,  W.  C Greek  Language,  Ancient  and  Mod- 

ern, Atlantic,  56:399. 


268 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Lloyd,  Charles  E.  . 
Lyncli,  Hannah 
MahafiFy,  J.  P.  . 


Manatt,  J.  Irving  . 

New  York  Quarterly  . 

Norman,  Henry 

Penny  Magazine 
Ripley,  William  Z.  . 

Saturday  Review  . 

Seymour,  T.  D.  , . . 

Speare,  Charles  F.  . 

Westminster  Review  . 


Wheeler,  Benjamin  Ide  . 


Modern  Greece,  Cosmopolitan,  22: 
587. 

Greece  of  To-day,  Westminster  Re- 
view, 139 : 155. 

Monasteries  and  Religion  in  Greece, 
Chautauquan,  9:1. 

The  Present  Condition  and  Pros- 
pects of  Greece,  Chautauquan, 
9:383. 

The  Living  Greek,  Review  of  Re- 
views (American),  11:398. 

4:259,  Greece,  Past,  Present  and 
Future. 

The  Wreck  of  Greece,  Scribner’s, 
22:399. 

2:239,247,  Emigration  to  Greece. 

Races  in  the  United  States,  Atlan- 
tic, December,  1908. 

58:723,  Finance  in  Greece. 

84 : 333,456,  Greece  and  Its  People. 

Life  and  Travel  in  Modern  Greece, 
Scribner’s,  4 : 46. 

Life  in  Modern  Greece,  New  Eng- 
lander, 46 : 359. 

What  America  Pays  Europe  for 
Immigrant  Labor,  North  Ameri- 
can Review,  January,  1908. 

20:74,  Modern  Greece. 

62 : 345,  Character,  Condition  and 
Prospects  of  the  Greek  People. 

67 : 228,  Review  of  “The  Mysteries  of 
Cephalonia,”  Lascarato. 

79 : 183,  Modern  Greece  and  the 
Greeks. 

The  Modern  Greek  as  a Fighting 
Man,  North  American  Review, 
164:609. 

The  Royal  Family  of  Greece,  Cen- 
tury, 32:139. 


269 


GREEK  IMMIGRATION 


Willcox,  Walter  F. 

. . The  Distribution  of  Immigrants  in 

the  United  States,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  August, 
1906. 

Williams,  Charles  . 

. . The  Thessalian  War  of  1897,  Fort- 

nightly Review,  67 ; 959. 

270 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Age  of  immigrants  113,  184 

Agents  79,  88,  91 

Agriculture 7,  61,  67,  81,  225 

Albanian  influence 15,  18 

Ambassador  to  the  United  States  121 

Ancient  language  50,  56 

Anthropology  19 

Assimilation  177,  206,  218,  240 

Athens  18,  21,  33,  36,  39,  49,  63,  64,  70,  174,  175,  223 

Athletics  36,  124,  125,  209 

Atlantis  153,  223 

Berths  on  shipboard  101 

Birth  certificates  184 

Bootblacks  in  Greece  173 

Bootblack  shops  92,  127,  151,  160,  171 

Boston  167,  169,  186,  201 

Bulgaria  74 

Calamata  63,  67 

Candy  169 

Candy  stores  92,  127,  159,  165 

Chain  letter  87,  119 

Character,  national  9,  12 

Chicago  118,  122 

Child  labor  (See  also  padrone  system)  131,  145,  151,  184 

Cities  in  Greece  61,  223 

Coffee-houses  29,  36,  123,  135,  149,  206,  209 

Colonies,  ancient  9 

Colonies  in  the  United  States  120 

Commercialism  24 

Commerce  240 

Committee,  Greek,  on  emigration 227 

Consul,  American  100 

Contract  labor  89,  163,  177,  186 

Corinth  Canal  65 

Courtesy  23 


273 


INDEX 


Crete 31 

Criminality  in  Chicago 128,  226 

Criminality  in  LoweU  142 

Criminality  in  New  York 156 

Criminality  in  the  United  States  200,  239 

Crisis  of  1907  84,  109,  112,  192,  220 

Cruelty  to  animals  27 

Currants  61,  64,  65,  76,  81 

Dancing  23,  49,  102 

Debarred  immigrants  116 

Dependence  in  Chicago  132 

Dependence  in  Lincoln  164 

Dependence  in  Lowell 144 

Dependence  in  New  York  151 

Dependence  in  the  United  States  193,  239 

Depopulation  232 

Deported  immigrants  116 

Dishonesty 24,  65,  69,  147,  207 

Disinfection  95 

Distribution  117,  218,  241 

Diversity  of  character  14 

Dowry  39,  93 

Drinking 37,  48,  139,  205 

Early  emigration  8 

Easter  49 

Economic  conditions  in  Greece 60 

Education  in  Greece  40,  176 

Education  in  the  United  States  142,  146,  158,  172 

Eikons  45 

Ellis  Island  105,  184 

Embarkation  99 

English  language  145,  218 

Environmental  influence  6,  9 

Exchange,  fall  in  71,  222 

Exploitation  140,  146,  187 

Exports  61,  64,  221 

Extent  of  Greek  world 4,  11 


Factionalism  10,  65,  69,  139,  153,  155,  207 

Factory  laborers  188 


274 


INDEX 


Family  life  

Farmers  

Fasts  

Female  labor 

Festivals  

Fishers 

Flower  selling  

Food,  in  Greece  

Food,  on  shipboard 

Food,  in  the  United  States 

France  

Fruit  stores  


135,  138,  148,  198,  318 

190 

44,  73 

92,  235 

48 

189 

127,  151,  167 

62,  73 

99,  102 

164,  180 

39,  76 

127,  165 


Gambling  38,  95,  143,  205 

Germans  197 

Grammar  55 

Godfather  178 


Habitation-districts  . . 

Health 

History 

Holidays 

Hospital  on  shipboard 
Hotels  and  restaurants 

Hull  House  

Humor  


6,  60 

133,  145,  180,  199,  207,  216 

15,  31 

47,  68,  162,  179 

104 

127,  151,  152,  171 

122,  152 

37 


Ice  cream  parlors  127 

Illiteracy  of  immigrants  114 

Imports  68,  221 

Induced  emigration  88,  91 

Industry  62,  67,  72,  222 

Inspection,  in  Greece  95,  97 

Inspection,  in  America  105 

Interest  71,  222 

Intermarriage  126,  138,  148,  198 

Irish  143,  197,  242 

Italians  132,  133,  125,  149,  151,  157,  159,  163,  166,  172,  173,  200,  202 


Jews 157,  196 

Juvenile  delinquency  131,  158,  204 


275 


INDEX 


Kings  16 

Laconia 133,  335 

Laws  on  immigration,  of  the  United  States  89 

Laws  on  immigration,  proposed  Greek 227 

Laws  on  immigration,  violations  of  183,  188 


Lincoln 159 

Living  conditions  125,  135,  148,  163,  164,  179,  198,  215 

Lowell  122,  133 


Macedonia 121,  134,  146 

Malthusian  theory  7 

Marriage  39,  93 

Megalopolis  174,  175,  232 

Military  service  59,  70,  227 

Mineral  resources  67 

Miners  190 

Monasteries  48 

Money  69,  70,  71,  85,  217 

Money,  amount  shown 115 

Money  sent  “home”  72,  78,  92,  161,  181,  191,  220,  221,  240 

Music  22 


Naturalization  209,  210 

Negro  slaves  236 

New  Haven  170,  201 

Newspapers,  in  Greece  21,  52,  64 

Newspapers,  in  Chicago  128 

Newspapers,  in  New  York 153 

Newspapers,  in  the  United  States 209 

New  York  122,  147 

Occupations,  in  Greece  7,  60,  64 

Occupations  of  immigrants  117 

Occupations  in  Chicago  124,  127 

Occupations  in  Lowell  135,  138 

Occupations  in  New  York  150 

Occupations  in  the  United  States  165,  189,  238 

Orthodox  church  42,  45,  59 

Orthodox  church  in  Chicago  126 

Orthodox  church  in  Lowell  141 


276 


INDEX 


Orthodox  church  in  New  York 155 

Orthodox  church  in  the  United  States 208 

Orthodox  community  120 

Orthodox  community  of  Chicago  126,  132 

Orthodox  community  of  Lowell  141 

Orthodox  community  of  New  York  155 

Padrone  system  113,  127,  160,  172 

Panhellenic  153 

Panhellenic  Union  121 

Patras  39,  63,  65,  79,  80,  94,  174 

Patriotism  35,  46,  164,  211 

Peddlers  128,  168,  202 

Peloponnesus  6,  174,  229 

Phylloxera  76 

Physical  characteristics 19 

Political  conditions 59 

Politics  34,  209,  210,  240 

Population,  of  Greece 60,  61,  224 

Population,  Greek,  of  the  United  States 110 

Population,  Greek,  of  Chicago  123 

Population,  Greek,  of  Lowell  133 

Population,  Greek,  of  New  York  148 

Postal  service  63 

Prices,  in  Greece  70,  81 

Priests  47,  48,  49,  79,  123,  126,  208 

Pronunciation  55 

Prosperity  192,  212,  215,  218 

Protestants  38,  56,  59,  209 

Quality  of  immigrants  86 

Racial  stock  15,  17,  50 

Railroads  6,  63 

Railroad  laborers  163,  186 

Recreations  125,  152,  209 

Rents  70 

Restaurants  (see  hotels  and  restaurants). 

Returning  emigrants  110,  116,  217,  238 

Roman  Catholic  Church  42 

Roumania  74 


277 


INDEX 


Sex  of  immigrants  112,  224 

Sexual  morality  38,  131,  206 

Shipping  65,  72,  81 

Smyrna  5,  9,  39 

Social  classes  60,  152 

Socialism  209 

Societies  126,  156 

Sources  of  emigration  85 

Sparta  63,  83,  84,  226 

Steerage  conditions  99 


Taxation  67 

Tenements  136,  149 

Tips  181 

Topography  5 

Trachoma  98 

Trade  unions  209 

Transportation  62 

Transvaal,  emigration  to  70,  78 

Tripolis  63,  83,  91,  174,  192,  228 

Tsipiana  90,  231 

Tuberculosis  145,  199 

Turkey  5,  15,  32,  35,  39,  56,  78,  80,  88,  174,  210 


V olume  of  immigration  109 

Voyage  100 

Wages  in  Greece  70,  226 

Wages  in  the  United  States  139,  151,  164,  180 

War  of  1897  26,  31 

War  of  Independence  16 

Wealth  in  Greece  69 

Wealth  in  the  United  States  151,  193 

White  slave  trade  226 


278 


Date  Due 

N 10 

Fa\VciV>’\\c^ 

-\-r>  Li.  S. 


